Before I Sleep: Damage
by wildsky
Summary: Part 2. Sequel to Chimera. Sort of AU. Their dreams of peace shattered, the Freak Nation must deal with a world that has changed forever. WARNING: SEXUAL VIOLENCE. NOT FOR UNDER 17s.
1. Home, Sweet Home

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **After the phenomenal response to Chimera, I was hoping everyone would welcome a sequel. This story picks up one month after Chimera and life in Terminal City won't ever be the same if I have anything to say about it…

Reviews would be greatly appreciated! Unregistered reviewers – please remember to supply an e-mail address so I can reply to your comments and questions!

**Chapter 1: Home, Sweet Home**

**Sector Seven, Terminal City Headquarters**

Max leaned back in her chair and lifted her arms over her head, arching her back like a cat as she stretched muscles that had stiffened as she sat at her desk for hours, going over reports from all over Terminal City. She let her breath out in a rush and glanced over at the clock.

One o'clock in the morning.

There were times that Max hated being nocturnal. She'd gladly trade a night of paperwork for a warm bed but there was no help for it. If anything, it meant there'd be less to do by the time the sun came up. At this time of night, Headquarters operated on a skeleton crew. Fortunately, ordinaries needed sleep as well, giving the transgenics a much-needed respite from the constant roar of protesters and military outside the fence.

For just over a month, the transgenics had been penned by the police, the National Guard, Army, Air Force – you name it, they were in attendance. Max had run out of anger a fortnight ago. Now there was only resignation and a fierce determination to get out of the situation alive.

It still frustrated her that it had taken just one transgenic to bring everything crashing down around their ears.

Jess had settled into life at Terminal City with rather startling speed, given the manner of her arrival. The vivacious blonde brought out every insecurity Max had never known she had. She was friendly and flirtatious and she'd charmed most of the city's population into her back pocket.

Max wanted to strangle her.

She never stopped talking, she had a nose for mischief and she had zero respect for authority.

She was… she was…

Max groaned as she finally thought of the perfect description.

She was Alec 2.0.

Only Tucker had held firm against Jess because she'd kicked him in the balls. He'd been all set to cause trouble. Several people had given Jess suggestions for sorting it out peaceably. In the end, Jess has dealt with the problem her own way to Max's disgust, Alec's amusement and Tucker's intense satisfaction. The aggrieved X5 male had ended up walking funny all over again but for an entirely different and much more pleasurable reason. The seemingly irrepressible smile on his face had earned him a good-natured ribbing from most of his friends.

After that, Max and a rather sceptical Alec had laid down the law. Jess was effectively under house arrest. Under no circumstances was she allowed to leave Terminal City, she was not to be given access to any 'sensitive' information and at Dix and Luke's request she was barred from Headquarters.

Max had the distinct impression that Jess was only obeying because Alec had asked her to.

As a result of the restrictions, Jess had ended up with way too much spare time on her hands and had decided to use it to make her mark on Terminal City. She'd appropriated one of the empty buildings, talked Rand into helping her and within a week Terminal City had its first bar, which Jess had dubbed "Haze". The transgenics swarmed into Jess's establishment and it remained a firm favourite for winding down after a long day.

Max had no idea how Rand had managed to organize the supplies, especially with the military watching their every move, but the X5 male had become TC's primary bootlegger. He'd even brought in a pool table, to Alec's relief. He'd always been a shark in that arena.

Sadly, there were two things even Rand found difficult to obtain these days – food and Tryptophan.

The transgenics had immediately resorted to rationing to make the stores last for as long as possible. Fortunately, Tryptophan wasn't required by the entire population. Only the X5s and X6s needed it to stabilize their brain chemistry. The flaw had been eliminated from the X7 and X8 series. As far as the transgenics were aware, the military didn't know about their weakness. Tryptophan had been hard to find even before Manticore had burned down. So far, it was just bad luck.

With that in mind, Max and Alec had asked Logan to surrender his copy of the database they'd compiled. After Jess had proven that Eyes Only was not only traceable but no match for even one transgenic – and by the same token no match for a Familiar – his ability to safeguard the information had been called into question. Logan had protested at first but Max had held firm and he'd finally given in.

Logan had been a bit distant ever since his hostage experience and he seemed extremely wary of Jess, which was perfectly understandable. What was driving Max crazy was his continuing distrust of Alec. She kept telling him there was nothing but friendship between herself and Alec, that she loved him and only him.

In turn, Logan told her that he trusted her but didn't trust Alec, which made no sense to Max at all. Even if Alec had wanted to go there, Logan should have had confidence in her loyalty to him, at the very least. Thus trusting Alec really shouldn't have been an issue in that arena.

Max sighed and rubbed her throbbing temples for a moment, knowing the headache she was developing wasn't a good sign.

_I need a break_, she thought wearily as she pulled open her top desk drawer and picked up her last bottle of the precious Tryptophan pills. She shook two pills into her hand and swallowed them quickly. She stared at the fading label for a long moment and pursed her lips.

"Are you okay, Max?"

She looked up to find Brax standing in her doorway with a concerned look on his face. Since Alec had been laid up with his leg, Brax and Rand had worked rotating shifts with Mole to pick up the slack and take some of the pressure off of Max. She'd welcomed the assistance despite being reluctant to ask for it in the first place.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said quickly, dropping the bottle back into her drawer. He wasn't fooled for a second.

"How's your head?" he asked.

"Hurting," she confessed with a sigh. "Yours?"

"I'm good for the moment."

"How about Shaine?"

"The medics won't let her run low, don't worry," Brax assured her. "Being pregnant has its advantages."

Max smiled tiredly at him. "I can't believe you're going to be a dad."

"You're telling me," Brax snorted. "Jett'll have to give me some pointers."

"You'll do great," Max enthused. "Or Shaine'll kick your ass."

"Gee, thanks," he said, rolling his eyes tolerantly. "Look, why don't you go and get some sleep?"

"I don't sleep," Max reminded him.

"So go and play a game of pool at the bar," he suggested. "Alec's down there with the gang."

"It's tempting," she conceded. "Are you sure?"

"Max, please. I can handle the night watch."

"Thanks, Brax," she said gratefully as she got to her feet.

"Anytime," Brax replied, ushering her out of the door.

**Sector Seven, Terminal City, Haze Bar**

Alec lined up a shot on the pool table and effortlessly sunk the black ball. Flashing his trademark smirk, Alec collected his winnings from his opponent.

Jett handed over a fifty dollar note with a grin and a mocking bow to the victor. Alec clapped him on the shoulder as he they made their way over to the table where Ember, Shaine and Kestrel were laughing over their drinks - the redhead, the brunette and the blonde made a striking trio.

Ember leaned over and gave Jett a soft, slow kiss.

"Damn. If that's second prize, what do I get?" Alec asked mischievously. Ember promptly threw a bar-nut at him, which he easily ducked. Jett just shook his head at his friend while Ember smiled innocently.

The pair had been all but inseparable since the attack which had left Jett fighting for his life. His scars were fading day by day. The slices were still clearly visible, a vivid whitish-pink against the rest of his skin, but Alec expected them to be gone completely within a few more weeks. Either way, the attack had not deprived Jett of his humour, which Alec was profoundly thankful for.

As on officially mated pair, Jett and Ember had moved in together as soon as he was fit to leave the Infirmary and Jett had immediately taken over the role of father to Ember's son, Bo. Alec kind of envied him. A family was a luxury for their kind.

On that note, Alec's gaze shifted over to the other side of the room, where the beautiful blonde bartender was laughing with Rand. Kestrel followed his line of sight and shook her head in disgust at Rand's blatant interest in Terminal City's infamous new resident.

Jess's shoulder had healed completely and though Alec was still walking with a very slight limp, the two of them had taken to sparring with each other every evening before her shift at the bar so they could get back into shape. The makeshift gymnasium wasn't being used as frequently as it used to be now that most of Terminal City's denizens were on constant alert.

To be honest, Alec looked forward to his time alone with Jess each day. She was the one person he'd been able to tell anything and everything. Still, her presence seemed to have had some unexpected side effects.

For once, there was trouble in Terminal City that wasn't Alec's fault at all.

_Well… maybe a little_, he thought ruefully. _Just a tiny bit_.

Max and Jess had declared war on each other.

Things had started out well enough. Okay, so Max laid out a few ground rules which Jess grudgingly obeyed for his sake. Okay, so Max and Jess's talk about everything that had happened had been heard by everyone in a two-block radius. That could be dealt with.

The problems had really started because old habits died hard. Alec had made a smart ass comment while both females were in the room and Max had hit him for it. Jess had taken exception… and then taken a swing, cuffing Max across the back of the head so hard the brunette had bitten her tongue.

"See how you like it," Jess had said primly, staring down a stunned, furious Max.

On the up side, Max hadn't hit him since. Jess's methods might occasionally leave something to be desired, but she'd gotten the effect she wanted. He should have seen it coming. He knew what Jess was like, how protective she was where he was concerned. After all, the feeling was mutual. In her position, he'd have done something similar… maybe with more words than actions, though.

Jess looked up and caught his eye, smiling brightly over Rand's shoulder. He grinned in return as she made her way over to their table, a pitcher of beer in one hand and a glass of water in the other.

"Heads up, guys," she warned as she placed them deftly on the table, sliding the water glass over to Shaine, who smiled her thanks.

"How's the bar business?" Ember asked, pushing her red-gold hair away from her face.

"Great," Jess replied, gesturing to indicate the crowded room. "It's been like this every night since it opened."

"How's Cray doing as a bartender?" Alec asked, pointing out the X6 female still serving customers.

"She's picked it up really quickly," Jess praised her. "She's a keeper." Jess looked up as the door opened to admit yet another patron. She grinned wickedly as she realized who it was. "Well, this just made my night."

Alec turned in his seat and smiled as he saw Max making her way over to their table. He snatched up a spare chair and shot a pleading look at Jess, who gave a non-committal shrug.

_I'll behave if she does_, was clearly the message. Alec gritted his teeth. Jess was the one person in Terminal City who could drive Max even further up the wall than he could.

"Max," the blonde greeted her.

"Jess," Max replied coolly, plonking herself down into the chair. "Water, thanks."

"Coming right up," Jess told her, moving off to fill the order.

"Headache, huh?" Alec asked. Max nodded.

"I'm just waiting for the Tryptophan for kick in," she told him. "I'm fine. Brax is keeping an eye on things."

"What time does his shift finish?" Kestrel asked.

"Seven o'clock," Shaine told her.

"Speaking of, what are you still doing up?" Max asked.

Shaine sighed. "If I sleep all night, I never see Brax," she replied. "So we're keeping the same hours."

"How's the baby doing?" Rand asked as he pulled up a chair. Shaine smiled at him.

"Two months and very healthy," Shaine enthused. "How's Cleo?"

"Great," both Rand and Kestrel replied simultaneously before exchanging an irritated look. The former breeding partners had never enjoyed each other's company. The only thing they had in common was their daughter.

"Here you go," Jess said, appearing behind Max with her glass of water.

"Thanks," Max said shortly, her manner dismissive.

"God, will you relax?" Jess huffed as she handed Max her drink. "You're depressing the customers."

"So what do you suggest?" Max snapped.

"You might consider opening something besides your mouth from time to time," Jess pointed out. Max stiffened angrily and was about to make a heated reply when Jess forestalled her with a disgusted look. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Max. I meant you should try reading a book… but it probably wouldn't kill you to open your legs as well."

Max coloured and her mouth snapped shut, unable to think of anything to say in response. No-one dared laugh. Max looked like she wanted to smack Jess in the mouth.

Alec glared up at Jess, who simply walked back to the bar, victorious once again.

"Great. Just great," he muttered under his breath.

Jess busied herself behind the bar counter, her peripheral vision focused on Alec's table. She watched as Alec gradually talked Max out of her temper and smiled to herself. Jealousy could be a powerful weapon when you knew how to use it.

Terminal City was proving to be a lot of fun.

_Ahh… home, sweet home_.


	2. Where We Stand

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**Chapter 2: Where We Stand**

**Sector Seven, Terminal City, Haze Bar**

For just one moment, Alec wanted to wring Jessie's pretty little neck. He didn't know what the hell she thought she was doing, but Max looked ready to kill someone.

Her dark eyes were blazing with anger as she sipped her water, reigning in her temper with an effort as she watched Jess weave her way back through the crowd.

"Maxie –"

"Is this the part where you say she didn't mean it?" Max asked curtly.

"No, it's the part where I ask if you're sure you don't want that beer," Alec informed her.

"You wouldn't like what I want right now," Max muttered angrily.

"Let me take a wild guess," Alec drawled. "You wanna kick her ass?"

"The thought had crossed my mind," Max replied, looking him squarely in the eyes.

"I'll talk to her," Alec promised.

"For what? The millionth time?" Max snarked. "Does she have some kind of insult quota she needs to meet each week?"

"Max, I'll handle it," Alec assured her, his frustration leaking into his tone. "She's not really like this."

"No offence, Alec, but she was gone for four years. How would you know what she's really like any more?"

Rand tactfully excused himself, leaving Alec to deal with Max, and returned to the bar where Jess was chatting with the customers. He took a moment to admire the view. As always, she looked effortlessly beautiful, her purple-streaked hair cascading over her shoulders. A silver necklace set off black jeans and a turquoise singlet that didn't show off nearly enough skin in his opinion.

Jess saw him coming immediately and tried not to smile. He was beginning to suspect that she was up to something, though he had yet to discover what it was. He was going to do one of two things – question her or flirt with her. Either option was fine by her. Even by Manticore's standards, Rand was an exceedingly handsome X5 male. Besides, she'd always been a sucker for blue eyes.

"So are you gonna tell me what you're playing at?" Rand asked shrewdly.

"What do you mean?" Jess asked smoothly.

"Come on, getting Max riled up like that isn't helping anybody," Rand observed. "What's your angle?"

He pinned her with his gaze, refusing to believe the 'oh-so-innocent' look on her face.

"You think I've got an angle?" Jess scoffed.

"Stealths always have an angle," Rand replied as if it were common knowledge. Jess looked thoughtful for a second before leaning in, her manner conspiratorial.

"Can you keep a secret?" she whispered.

"Of course," he told her.

"Good. So can I," she said mischievously. With a wink and a grin, she stepped around the bar and took him by the hand, leading him over an empty bit of floor space.

Reluctantly conceding defeat – for the time being, at least – Rand decided to relish her rather sexy and very effective distraction, falling into synch with her movements easily. As usual, Jess's energy was infectious and before long a few other couples were up dancing with them. Even Jett was spinning Ember across the floor, the couple clearly enjoying themselves.

Rand gave Jess a devilish smile which she returned, a wicked sparkle in her eyes.

He could never resist a good mystery.

**Sector Seven, Terminal City, Max's Apartment, Two Hours Later**

"Are you sure you're feeling all right?" Alec asked as they approached her door.

"Yeah, I'm all right," she told him with a weary smile. "You didn't have to walk me home."

"It's okay," he replied with a small shrug. "Couldn't have you seizing halfway down the road."

Max tried not to frown at the seemingly indifferent tone in his voice.

"I can take care of myself, Alec. I've been doing it for a long time now."

"You know that's not what I meant," he told her, sensing that she might have taken his comment the wrong way.

Max wasn't completely immune to the earnest look in his eyes. She nodded.

"Thanks," she said softly. She pursed her lips as she gazed at him.

"Listen, Max, I'm really sorry about Jessie," Alec said softly as she opened her door.

"Can we not talk about her, please?" Max asked, her tone sharper than she intended. Alec shut his mouth accordingly and Max suddenly wished she'd done the same. She knew he didn't appreciate being stuck in the middle. It wasn't his fault that she and his sister rubbed each other the wrong way, and that both of them had the smart mouths to back it up.

Jess had won tonight's round but tomorrow was a brand new day. Max didn't think for a second that Jess was going to heed Alec's warnings. He'd been trying for three weeks with no success.

"I'll see you later," Max said, effectively cutting off anything he might have said. "Night."

"Night," he said softly, knowing better than to fight a losing battle.

Max closed the door on Alec and drew in a long, deep breath. She heard him retreating, walking down the hall. She waited until she could no longer hear his footsteps before she went into her bedroom and let herself fall onto her bed.

Jess's taunt echoed in her ears and she groaned. She hated the blonde all the more for being right. She was stressed. Her friendship with Alec still felt stilted and awkward while if she so much as kissed Logan on the cheek, he'd keel over and die on her.

She knew the word for what she was feeling but didn't like to use it. It sounded so petty.

She was jealous.

The blonde could do and say anything and get away with it on pure nerve if nothing else. She had no responsibilities, no morals, and she always managed to provoke Max's temper. Yet the most infuriating thing about her was the way Alec was when he was around her.

Jess brought out an entirely different side of Alec – the one Max had only seen once or twice. He let down his guard when Jess was around. Max found herself wishing more and more that she'd wake up one morning and find her friendship with him magically repaired.

_Why do things have to be so complicated?_ she thought to herself. No matter how hard she tried, there was still a gulf between them. He joked and laughed and acted like everything was okay when they both knew it wasn't true. She just wanted everything to be the way it was before.

She reached for the Tryptophan pills in her jacket pocket as her body began to shake. She swallowed several of them, knowing it was too late to stop the seizure. She hated being alone like this and she suddenly wished she hadn't let Alec leave.

She wanted her smart aleck back.

**Sector Seven, Terminal City, Jess's Apartment Building**

Alec stalked up the stairs to Jessie's third storey apartment. He was fuming by the time he arrived and smacked his fist onto the door.

"Jessie!"

Inside, Jess looked up and sighed.

_Here we go again_… she thought as she moved to let him in.

"Jessie, open up!" Alec demanded, continuing to pound on her door.

"Okay, okay! Where's the fire?" Jess said as the door swung open. Alec's thunderous expression made her wince. "You're mad at me again."

"Why do you do that?" he asked in exasperation. "Why do you have to push her buttons like that?"

Jess stepped aside to let him pass as the tirade continued.

"Max has enough to deal with, Jessie. Please, tell me how you think any of this is helping!"

Jess wisely kept her mouth shut, letting Alec get it all out of his system. She knew she was driving him crazy, that her behaviour seemed juvenile, especially when Terminal City was in such dire straits. This wasn't the first lecture she'd received from him since her arrival and it undoubtedly wouldn't be the last.

"What the hell has gotten into you?" Alec continued, finally pausing to wait for an answer.

"I'm sorry," Jess said softly, meeting his eyes.

All the anger seemed to drain out of Alec and he sunk onto her couch.

"This has gotta stop, Jessie," he implored her. "I can't spend all my time winding her down after you wind her up. In case you hadn't noticed, we're in the middle of a war zone. We have other responsibilities."

"No, you have other responsibilities," Jess pointed out. "I'm _persona non grata_ as far as doing anything useful goes."

_God, I sound like a six year old_, she thought, angry that she'd been reduced to such delinquent tactics to divert his attention.

"You put us through the wringer, Jessie. What'd you expect?"

"It's not about what I expected, Al. It's about serving beer and bar-nuts when I could be making myself a helluva lot more useful. We need everyone ready to fight and I'm stuck."

"Well, you're not exactly endearing yourself to the person in charge, are you?" Alec chided.

"You've made your point," Jess told him, folding her arms across her chest.

"No, I don't think I have," Alec replied, sounding resigned, "but at least I gave it a shot."

Jess hated the disappointment in his voice as he said that but she didn't defend her actions.

When he realized that she wasn't going to say anything, he ran a hand through his hair and exhaled.

"Got anything to drink?" he asked.

Jess nodded. "Sure. Just a sec."

She went to retrieve a bottle of scotch Rand had procured for her, knowing it was Alec's favourite. She returned with two glasses in her other hand and quickly poured for both of them.

Alec sipped his and shook his head at her as she sat down on the coffee table opposite him.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" he asked thoughtfully.

"Not much, she replied, smiling a little. "You should know that."

"Huh. Yeah, right," Alec scoffed. "That's about as likely as Max and Logan getting their act together."

The corner of Jess's mouth lifted slightly. "That's one hell of a pipedream she's clinging to, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess it is," Alec replied. "That virus really screwed them up."

"I've said it before, but I don't think the virus is the real problem," Jess told him. "Ever hear the expression 'everything works in theory'?"

Alec seemed to mull that over, staring down at the amber liquid in his glass.

"Why can't you tell her what you really think?" Jess asked softly.

"This coming from the girl who can't seem to resist taking a shot every time you two are in the same room?" Alec said, one eyebrow rising sceptically.

"Okay, I'll admit that talking to Max tends to be like mainlining tequila," Jess said with a shrug.

"How's that?" Alec asked, intrigued by the analogy.

"It's salty, bitter and you walk away with a sour taste in your mouth," she replied. Despite himself, Alec chuckled. Jess had always had a way with words.

"It's not that I can't tell her what I really think," he said. "It's just that I…"

Jess waited for him to answer. "You what?" she prompted him.

"Things have been really weird ever since –"

"Ever since I showed up," Jess finished for him, nodding.

"Look, Jessie, even without you in the mix, things were kind of shifting. I don't know what the hell was going on."

"Have you asked her about it?" Jess asked carefully.

"Not really," Alec hedged.

"Hey, it's not like I'm her partner-in-crime," Jess told him. "I have the luxury of bull-shitting my way through my conversations with Max. You don't."

"Wow, Jessie, I feel so much better," he drawled sarcastically. Jess got her to her feet and moved to sit beside him.

"You keep telling me things don't feel right with you and Max. So deal with it. Talk your way around it, charm your way out of it. I don't care. Just _do_ something. Sitting here drinking scotch with me isn't gonna get you anywhere."

Alec was looking at her in surprise.

"You're encouraging me to be friends with Max? Once again I ask, what the hell is going on in that head of yours?"

"Hey, I like Max," Jess told him, meeting his disbelieving gaze. "I do, even if she is an 09er. She just flips my bitch switch."

"You are so weird," Alec told her with a half-smile.

"I'll make you a deal, okay? If you make more of an effort, so will I."

Alec's smirk appeared and he held out his left hand for her to shake.

"Deal."


	3. Vulnerable

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **Thanks for all the great reviews, guys. Sorry it took so long to update. Writer's block three chapters in – disgusting, isn't it? Unregistered reviewers – please provide an e-mail address so I can respond to comments and questions. Happy reading!

**Chapter 3: Vulnerable**

**Sector Seven, Terminal City, The Next Day**

Alec clapped his hands together as he entered Headquarters, ready for his shift.

"Hey, guys, what's up?" he greeted everyone, grinning merrily.

The usual crowd was hanging around, monitoring the situation inside and outside of Terminal City. Dix and Luke, along with several other techs, were happily tinkering with the systems, which they'd been upgrading every chance they got.

Mole was the CO on duty. He'd only recently resumed his role at Headquarters after spending the better part of a fortnight at Harbour Lights Hospital. There, Gem had been under the watchful eye of Doctor Rosalind Woods. It had been an easy recovery for the auburn-haired female, particularly as she'd been separated from her daughter as a result. Eve had been looked after by two females during Gem's absence – Kestrel and Sari, the mothers of Cleo and Kyp respectively. The child had clearly known something was very wrong because neither woman got much rest during that period.

Gem was currently residing in the Infirmary though she would be conditionally released within a few days. She owed her safety during her time at Harbour Lights to Doctor Woods more than anyone else. It hadn't taken long for word to spread that a transgenic was being treated at Harbour Lights. The doctor had flatly refused to let anyone near her patient, be they cops, government agents or protesters – though it hadn't hurt to have Mole, Dalton and several others backing her up.

That loyalty had cost several of Seattle's citizens dearly and Terminal City now had some of their people covertly guarding potential targets. Doc Woods was just one of many. Normal, Sketchy, Original Cindy – Max and Alec had taken steps to protect anyone who couldn't or wouldn't leave the 'hot zone'.

Thankfully, Normal's business was still thriving but Sketchy had been taken a severe beating for printing a pro-transgenic article in New World Weekly. He'd been in hospital for a couple of days but he'd recovered quickly, more determined than ever to write about the Freak Nation. However, he did have a rather wicked scar that ran the length of his right bicep. He'd taken to showing it off at every opportunity. Boyd and Dale had become a fixture at Jam Pony, watching out for both Normal and Sketchy.

Original Cindy was another matter – there wasn't a fanatic on Earth stupid enough to attack that woman. Except maybe Ames White but Alec didn't doubt she'd give him a good run for his money. She could be damn near terrifying when she wanted to be.

"Hey, pretty boy," Mole called out. "Goldilocks behave herself last night?"

"Not really," Alec replied ruefully, trying not a smile at Mole's nickname for Jess.

"Figures. Have you seen Max?"

"No. Why?" Alec asked curiously.

"She was rostered for duty at eleven o'clock but she hasn't shown up yet," Mole informed him, pointing his thumb towards the clock on the far wall. It was eleven thirty.

"She's not answering her pages either," Dix chimed in helpfully.

"I'll go over and check on her," Alec offered immediately. "Have you got everything covered?"

Mole simply nodded and Alec strode back out of the command centre. He swung a leg over his Bandit and within moments he was speeding towards Max's apartment.

**Sector Seven, Terminal City, Max's Apartment**

Alec knocked on the Max's door for the third time, frowning when all that greeted him was silence yet again.

"Max? Are you in there?" he called out. He tested the door and found it unlocked, so he quietly pushed it open and stuck his head inside. "Maxie?"

A muffled whimper reached his ears. Striding into her quarters, Alec followed the sound into her bedroom and stopped dead when he realised what was happening.

"Alec…"

Clutching her pillow to her chest, Max's body was shuddering uncontrollably on the bed. Tryptophan pills had scattered across the floor. He didn't even want to think about how long she'd been like that.

Immediately stripping off his jacket, he sat down on the bed and reached out to stroke her sweat-soaked hair away from her face.

"Hey, Maxie," he said softly, giving her a reassuring smile. "How long's this been going on?"

"On and off," she said brokenly. "Most of the night."

"All right," he whispered, nodding. "It's okay. Just breathe, baby."

"Don't leave," she said softly, her doe brown eyes pleading with him.

"I'm not gonna leave," he assured her. "I'm just gonna pick up these pills for you."

She nodded quickly, her breathing fractured. Alec moved quickly, gathering up the precious chemical but he was careful to not move out of her line of sight. He poured the handful of pills into the bottle and pulled his new cell phone out of his jacket pocket.

"_Headquarters. Mole speaking_."

"Mole, it's Alec. I need you to hold down the fort. Max is seizing."

"_No problem_."

"Thanks, pal," Alec replied, ending the call quickly so he could return to Max's side. He laid himself down on the bed, making sure there was a decent amount of space between them in case she started thrashing. He didn't like the frightened look in her eyes. He carefully untangled one of her hands from the pillow and threaded his fingers through hers.

"It's gonna be okay, Maxie," he whispered, his thumb stroking across the back of her hand as he leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. Still shaking terribly, she closed her eyes, reassured by his presence.

Alec shifted until he was comfortable, his hazel eyes fixed on her pale face. He hoped it wouldn't last much longer. Unlike many other transgenics, Max hadn't had the benefit of Manticore's treatments and her seizures seemed so much worse than anything he'd witnessed before. Half the problem was the damned Red Series implant still stuck at the base of her neck. Those who'd escaped when Max had taken down Manticore had taken longer to feel the effects of the serotonin deficiency.

Shaine was really the only one the medics were keeping an extremely close watch on. They hadn't discovered that she was pregnant until after she'd donated blood to Gem, which could have risked the baby's health. Brax nearly had a fit when Shaine told him.

Alec cursed himself for not keeping a closer eye on Max. Thinking back, he should have stuck around last night but she'd said she was fine.

_That'll teach you to believe her when she says that, won't it?_ he thought angrily. _Jeez, stealths are bull-shit-o-meters. How the hell did this get past me?_

Sadly, he knew the answer to that too. With all the weirdness between Max and himself, he'd been trying to ignore the problem instead of deal with it.

_So talk your way around it, charm your way out of it. I don't care. Just _do_ something_.

Jessie's advice flashed through his mind and he smiled to himself.

Maybe helping Max through her seizures could be considered a peace offering? At least it could be a start. He was sick of walking on eggshells in case he crossed some imaginary line.

Besides, she'd do the same for him… wouldn't she?

He grimaced at the uncertainty that came with that statement. Two months ago the answer would have been an unequivocal yes. With a sigh, Alec banished that train of thought and concentrated on the shaking girl beside him.

_Come on, Maxie. Now's a really good time to be stubborn_.

**Sector Three, Sandeman's Old House**

Logan Cale sat at his computer, typing away at a pace that most humans would be envious of. Only recently had he realized that his computer skills were laughable compared to the techs at Terminal City.

With mental processing capabilities that left ordinaries in the dust, they could type rings around him easily, their fingers blurring across the keyboards at times. At first Logan had felt rather insulted that they didn't want his help – until he'd seen Luke in action. The monocled mutant had accomplished more in one hour than Logan could have if he'd had a whole day.

So he was back in Joshua's old house, fighting the good fight, as Eyes Only.

The problem was that he'd been fixing glitches in his system ever since Jess had gotten her hands on it and he wasn't sure whether it had been intentional sabotage on her part or not. In truth, he wasn't game to ask. Logan got on well with most of the transgenics and transhumans in Terminal City but Jess was a whole other story. She seemed to enjoy reminding him that she could snap his neck like a twig.

Then there was Alec.

Logan had finally started to relax around the X5 male, mainly due to the palpable strain between him and Max. Ever since he'd walked in on Max hugging Alec in the Infirmary, it was as if they weren't sure where the line was any more and decided to avoid it altogether.

He didn't like himself for the surge of jealousy, of hurt, that had hit him like a punch in the gut when he saw that. It was so petty, so beneath him. He knew they were friends and Max had explained everything that had happened – how Alec had defied her to rescue his 'sister'.

Personally, Logan found the idea that Alec actually cared about a beautiful young woman in such a non-sexual way preposterous. He was a ladies man, a sociopath and Logan hesitated to believe that Alec wouldn't step over the line again. Next time it could get someone killed.

It could get Max killed.

Logan shook himself to get rid of such gloomy thoughts. It was for her sake that he'd busied himself trying to fulfil his original bargain with her. He was trying to find the other 09ers, a job that had shrunk a bit since he'd first met her. There had already been six casualties in the war against Manticore.

Zack, the leader and protector, was gone, living the dream with no memory of who or what he was. Tinga was dead, killed by the late Doctor Elizabeth Renfro, leaving behind a son as extraordinary as she was. Ben, the dreamer, was killed by Manticore after committing a series of brutal murders.

Seth had also died, falling to his death from the Space Needle to save Max's life before Logan had even met her, and Vada had been shot in the chest by Lydecker himself rather than return to Manticore. Kavi had been the youngest, six at the time of the escape. He'd been recaptured only to die during a training exercise, the victim of a stray bullet.

That left five X5s from Max's unit unaccounted for. Brin, who'd been successfully reindoctrinated. Zane, apparently a gifted mechanic who loved dogs despite his feline DNA. Jondy, a nocturnal model like Max, who'd been forced to leave her behind on the night of the escape. Last but not least, Krit and Syl, the duo who'd helped Max and Zack destroy the DNA lab.

At long last, he had a lead – one that he hoped would bear fruit. Having her siblings with her would mean so much to Max. She'd spent just over a decade searching for them. She insisted they were her family and who was he to deny her?

Though secretly Logan also hoped that with her real family around her, Max might distance herself just that _little_ bit more from Alec.

He finished the code that would submit a request for a video-session with Terminal City. A few seconds lapsed before his password was verified and a familiar face appeared on the screen. Dix, the trench-digger who'd become on of Terminal City's primary techs, smiled at him.

"Hey, Logan! How's it going?" he said happily, his dark, beady eyes warm with welcome.

"Not bad. Is Max around?" he asked, knowing her shift had started about an hour earlier.

"Sorry, Logan, she's taking a personal day," Dix informed him. "Apparently the seizures are hitting her hard."

"How bad is it?" Logan asked, immediately leaning forward in his chair as if that would get the answers he wanted faster.

"I'm not really sure," Dix admitted.

"I'm coming over there. Have Dalton meet me at the usual place. It'll take me a while with the crackdown at the checkpoints."

"I'll see if he's free. You might have to wait otherwise," Dix told him.

"Okay. I'll be there as soon as I can," Logan said, quickly switching off all his equipment. He cast a longing glance towards the twisted hunk of metal that had once been his exoskeleton. Somehow he hadn't been able to bring himself to get rid of it, despite the unrecognizable mess Jess had made of it.

He still wasn't used to walking around without it. In many ways, the artificial enhancer had put him on equal footing with the transgenics in a fight – as long as he used his legs. Being in the wheelchair had built up his upper body strength but he was under no illusions about who would win in a fist-fight. He'd once seen Zack catch an ordinary – Tinga's husband Charlie – in a choke hold. The ease with which the X5 male had held him captive was a little on the scary side.

Picking up his jacket, Logan strode outside and clambered into Bessie's driver's seat. He turned the key in the ignition and was quickly on his way.

_Hold on, Max. I'm coming_.


	4. One Step Forward

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's so not worth it.**

**A/N: **I wrote this chapter while listening to Sarah McLachlan's "Angel". I think it really suits the mood in the second half. Enjoy!

**Chapter 4: One Step Forward**

**Sector Seven, Terminal City Headquarters**

After being called in to cover Alec's shift, Rand couldn't have been happier to see a friendly face as he reviewed the latest media reports.

Jett had just strolled into Headquarters, his dark eyes searching the room until they rested on Rand. He waved briefly as he made his way over.

"Hey, pal, what are you doing up here?" Rand greeted Jett, clapping him affectionately on the shoulder. Jett smiled at his friend and gestured widely at the room. "Just wanted a piece of the action," Rand gleaned, nodding in approval. "Wish I could help you, pal, but you're still not cleared for active duty."

Jett rolled his eyes dramatically but Rand didn't budge.

"No," he said firmly. "We're under orders, same as you. Besides, Ember would hit the roof. She's got a soft spot for your ass. I'd like to keep mine intact."

Jett chuckled, knowing Rand was right. His redheaded mate wasn't at all intimidated by his friends.

"You look beat," Rand observed, noting his friend's drawn appearance. "Is Ember keepin' you up?"

Jett shook his head. It wasn't Ember's nocturnal habits that were the problem – it was their son's.

"Bad night, huh?" Rand surmised. "No surprise with that mob outside the fence makin' all that noise."

Jett simply shrugged in response, too tired to make any more of an effort.

"Seriously, man, go home and get some more sleep," Rand urged him. "You look like shit."

Jett shot him an irritated glance.

"Hey, it's true," Rand told him honestly, meeting his friend's dark eyes. "You're bored outta your skull, right?"

Jett nodded helplessly, clearly frustrated at his inability to contribute.

"See, I don't get that. You have a gorgeous woman and a lot of time on your hands. How can you _not_ find something to do?"

Rand laughed outright at the dark look that was thrown his way.

"All right, all right. I'll talk to the others, see what we can organise. I'm not making any promises though."

The expression on Jett's face was so relieved it was almost comical. Then something else caught Rand's attention.

"What the hell's he doing back here?" he mused aloud, prompting Jett to turn around and see for himself.

Logan Cale had just walked into the command centre with Dalton at his heels and he looked anything but happy to be there.

As per Terminal City regulations, Logan was reporting to Headquarters before he was allowed to head over to Max's quarters. Not that he had much of a choice – Dalton may have been a teenager but he still had sixteen more years of combat training than Logan had. The kid had put on about three inches since the Jam Pony siege andRand had no doubt that the kid would keep getting taller. The X6 had proven particularly adept at what Max called "sneak and creep" and when he'd volunteered his help, he'd been assigned to escort authorised personnel to and from Terminal City.

"What do you say we go over and say hi?" Rand hinted. Jett nodded in agreement and the two X5 males made their way over to the other side of the room, where Logan was having a rather clipped conversation with Mole.

"You're not supposed to be here," Mole told him, all seven-feet of him towering over the bespectacled human. "The agreement was that you'd stay out. You're not immune like we are."

"I came to see Max," Logan argued. "I heard she was seizing."

"You heard that, huh?" Mole growled, glancing sidelong at Dix, who had the good sense to scurry over to a work-station out of Mole's immediate reach. "Max'll be fine. We take care of our own."

"I'm not asking for your permission, Mole. I'm here, I've checked in and I'm going over there."

Logan turned his back on Mole, intending to walk out, only to be brought up short when he found Jett and Rand blocking his path.

"Hey, Logan," Rand said, grinning at the older man in a manner that wasn't _quite_ friendly. "Still fighting the good fight?"

"I don't have time for this," Logan huffed.

"Now that's just rude." Rand's voice took on an icy quality that sent a shiver down Logan's spine. It was a subtle reminder that the young man before him was much more dangerous than he appeared.

"Look, I have to get to Max," Logan told him, hoping they'd show some compassion and let him pass.

"Max," Rand said calmly. "The girl who told you to stay out of TC so you wouldn't keel over from the toxins."

Logan glanced over at Jett, who simply raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly.

No help was going to come from that direction.

"I just want to know that she's all right," Logan said patiently. "Once I'm sure she'll be okay, I'll leave."

Rand's blue eyes locked with Logan's, momentarily chilling in their intensity.

"Don't try coming here without an invitation again," Rand warned. "We don't like unexpected guests. Got it?"

"I've got it," Logan replied, not backing down from the X5's stare.

"Good. Go."

The human hadn't gotten more than five feet before Rand called out after him.

"Oh, and don't forget to say hello to Jess on your way."

Logan stiffened for a moment but didn't look back. Mole and the two X5s watched Logan as he hurried out of the building.

"Who authorised him to pay us a visit?" Rand asked.

"I don't know, but I'm gonna find out. I'll take care of it," Mole said crisply.

"Whoever it was, we need them alive, Mole," Rand reminded him, meeting the lizard man's eyes.

"I said I'd take care of it. I didn't say I'd kill him."

With that, Mole strode towards the slightly-nervous X6 who'd heard every word they'd spoken and had probably realized he'd unwittingly done something wrong.

_Well_, Rand thought as he and Jett exchanged a look. _This'll be interesting_.

**Sector Seven, Terminal City, Max's Apartment**

Max woke slowly, aware of feeling warm and safe. A slow, constant _th_-_thump_ assailed her ears, a lullaby in its own right. She drew in a slow, deep breath and quickly ran a mental assessment of her body. The headache was still goingbut the shaking had receded, leaving only a slight trembling in its wake. She felt drained but at that moment she was just thankful that the worst seemed to be over for now.

Then she sniffed slightly, the scent tickling her nose all too familiar, and she realized what the thumping sound beneath her cheek was.

A heartbeat.

Max's eyes snapped open. Not daring to move lest she disturb him, she swallowed hard.

Alec was lying on her bed, on his back, with her curled up against his side. Her cheek was pillowed against his chest, her arm thrown across his waist, her leg tangled with his. His face was turned towards her, his lips pressed softly against her hair, his arm around her waist.

Memory washed over her. Alec had found her seizing and stayed with her, holding her hand as they waited for the worst to pass. He'd done what he usually did – taken charge of a bad situation when she couldn't. Once her body had calmed, he'd gently coaxed her into swallowing more tryptophan pills before he'd let her sleep it off. She spied the half-empty bottle on the beaten table beside the bed and realized that it wasn't hers.

Alec had given her some of his own supply instead. She blinked and carefully shifted position so she could look up at his sleeping face.

She'd never seen that expression on his face before. It was peaceful, and she thought idly for a moment that it just didn't look like _him_. Alec's face was always so full of character. That little smile that was always there…

Max slowly relaxed against him, reluctant to wake him. She hadn't been this close to him… well, ever. Then she felt his breathing change and she knew it was too late. He stirred beneath her cheek and his hazel eyes slowly opened. She knew the moment he realized where he was and who he was holding. He went completely and utterly still. His eyes locked with hers.

"Hey," he said softly.

"Hey," she whispered in reply.

"How do you feel?" he asked tentatively.

"All right," she told him with a slight nod. "Better."

"Good," he said as he removed his arm from around her waist, effectively releasing her. "That's good."

"Yeah," Max said, slowly untangling herself from him so she could sit up.

_Okay, whatever you do, don't snap at him,_ she thought as Alec sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, turning his back on her. For a moment, Max felt paralysed. She had absolutely no idea how to handle such a situation, no idea what to say to the man who'd comforted her when she needed him regardless of the strain between them. He was her best transgenic friend and she missed him.

She'd wanted her smart aleck back and here he was… reaching for his shoes.

For the first time in his life, Alec couldn't think of a single thing to say. Waking up next to a beautiful woman wasn't unusual for him. Waking up next to Max was. He'd hoped to talk to her once it was over but his mind was frustratingly blank. He half expected her to throw him out of her apartment.

"Alec…"

"Hmm?" was his only response as he pulled one boot on. He didn't even look at her.

_Oh God, please don't be like that_… Max thought desperately.

"Thank you," she told him.

He paused for a second and finally turned to face her, a small smile playing on his lips.

"You're welcome," he replied, obviously pleasantly surprised by the sentiment.

"So how long are we going to keep doing this?" she asked, deciding to tackle the problem head on.

"I don't know," he confessed, looking a little sheepish. "I can't say I'm enjoying it."

"Yeah," Max said softly, looking down as her fingers plucked at the sheets. She bit her lower lip, her eyes rising to his back. The plain black t-shirt he was wearing was all crinkled from being slept in but did little to disguise the sleek musculature beneath. In fact, his hair was a bit of a mess too. It kind of stuck up everywhere.

Max pursed her lips to suppress a laugh. Alec actually looked adorable.

"What?" he asked curiously, obviously wondering what the joke was.

"Nothing," Max said quickly, pushing her own mass of tangled hair back behind her shoulders.

_Great. I must look like a waterlogged poodle_, she thought irritably.

What she was thinking must have shown on her face because Alec leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"I won't tell if you don't," he teased. His trademark smirk flashed across his features, lighting up those green-gold eyes. Max playfully pushed him away, trying not to smile.

For a moment, the awkwardness that had plagued them for weeks dissipated.

"Come on. You can cook me some breakfast," she told him.

"Me? It's your kitchen," he protested half-heartedly as she got up off the bed and stretched.

"So?" she challenged him. "I burn everything. Except chicken. I can do chicken."

That got her a chuckle and he draped his arm around her shoulder just as he had the night she told him about Ben, grinning as she walked with him through the bedroom door, barefoot and dishevelled.

Only then did Alec realize he'd left the front door open and for the second time in a month, Logan witnessed something he wished he hadn't.

Max's smile died.

Alec clenched his teeth and took a deep breath, bracing himself for what was undoubtedly to come.

_Oh… crap_.


	5. Two Steps Back

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**Chapter 5: Two Steps Back**

**Sector Seven, Terminal City, Max's Apartment**

Logan's rapidly darkening expression did more to dispel the friendly atmosphere than anything he could have said. His angry blue eyes fixed on Alec, he pushed the door so hard it slammed shut behind him.

"Take it easy, Logan. It's not what it looks like," Alec said quickly, letting his arm fall away from Max's shoulders. He moved forward slightly, placing himself between Logan and Max.

"And what does it look like, Alec?" Logan said, his voice brimming with tightly controlled rage. His gaze mobbed from Alec to Max, who shook her head vehemently in denial.

"Oh, for the love of –" Alec began.

"Shut up! Logan, he was just helping me out," Max explained, cutting Alec off.

"With what, exactly?" Logan snapped, glaring daggers at Alec.

"Excuse me?" Max asked in outrage, rounding on Logan. "What did you just say?"

"What did you expect me to say when I find you walking out of your bedroom cuddling up to _him_?" Logan demanded, gesturing towards the offending person.

Alec bristled against the implied insult. "I'd expect you to think before you say something you can't take back."

"Speaking from experience, are we?" Logan deliberately baited the X5 male, who simply squared his shoulders but held his tongue. He wasn't about to defend himself to Logan Cale of all people. It wasn't the first time in the last few months that he'd wondered what Max saw in the self-righteous Eyes Only.

"I was seizing. He stayed to make sure I was all right. End of story," Max informed the hacker, moving to place herself between the two men so that she was facing Logan.

"Oh, so that's why his lackeys were stalling me at Headquarters," Logan shot back, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"What are you talking about?" Alec asked, genuinely confused by such a statement.

"Mole, Rand and Jett all giving me the third degree before they'd let me come here," Logan spat. "A bit convenient, don't you think?"

"Wait, what were they giving you the third degree about?" Max asked, as bewildered as Alec was by the turn the argument had taken. The implication that Alec's friends had been deliberately playing for time was quickly cast aside.

"That's not important. What matters is –"

"No, Logan. What was it?" Max pressed him, folding her arms across her chest.

The question seemed to take the wind out of Logan's sails.

"About me coming to Terminal City," he hedged.

"Which in and of itself usually isn't a problem," Alec observed, stepping forward to stand beside Max. "Care to elaborate?"

"I arrived on short notice, okay?" Logan tried to skirt the subject but his evasion didn't go unnoticed by either transgenic. Alec's lips twitched as he realised what must have happened.

"Did you have authorisation to come here?" Alec asked shrewdly.

"Dalton met me at the usual point –"

"That's not what I asked," Alec told him sternly. "Did you get permission from the COs on duty?"

"Not exactly," Logan reluctantly admitted.

"Logan!" The exasperation in Max's tone couldn't have been more obvious. "God, you know we set up that system for a reason!"

_That's our Max_, Alec thought with grudging admiration. _Ever the leader._

"I came here for you!" Logan argued, meeting Max's dark eyes. "To help you."

"That was stupid, Logan," Alec said, shaking his head. "Mole could have had you shot. Do you realize that?"

"That's not the point!" Logan persisted angrily.

"Of course not," Alec said blandly, shrugging slightly. "We wouldn't want to distract you from accusing your girlfriend of cheating on you while she was seizing."

"I'm warning you, Alec -" Logan growled. The whole issue sounded preposterous when Alec put it that way.

"_You're_ warning _me_?" Alec scoffed, clearly amused by the idea. "No wonder the boys gave you hell. You better watch who you talk to like that."

"Alec," Max grated, looking back over her shoulder at him. "Leave."

Her dark eyes were pleading with him to do as she asked.

"Max –"

"Alec. Please."

For a long moment, hazel eyes met brown as Alec considered his position. He didn't want to leave Max to clean up a mess that was partly his fault but his presence was only making things worse.

_Since when do you want to get dragged into the drama between these two_? a little voice asked. Alec sighed, knowing he was in a no-win situation.

"All right," he said, conceding the field. Without another word, he strode out the door but not before he'd thrown Logan a quelling glance. The hacker looked slightly smug, as if he'd won a major victory.

Alec closed the door behind him, leaving Logan and Max alone in her apartment.

"I can't believe you just did that," Max said angrily, shaking her head. "You just accused me of sleeping with him."

"What was I supposed to think? You walked out of your bedroom with him all over you," Logan pointed out sharply.

"He wasn't all over me!" Max shot back. "He gave me a hug because I don't feel so hot!"

"And since when does he hug you?" Logan demanded. "Last time I checked, you two couldn't even say hello without ending up at each other's throats."

"It was never that bad," Max protested. "It was weird but we were dealing with it. You actually walked in just as we were getting somewhere!"

"I think we both know exactly where Alec wants to get," Logan shot back.

"Don't you dare!" Max snapped. "He's my friend - one of my _best_ friends. We're not like that!"

"That's what you used to say about us, too," Logan said coldly.

"Except this time it's true!" Max's shoulders sagged. "Logan, I can't keep doing this," she said, a hint of desperation in her voice. "You have to trust me. There's nothing going on with me and Alec. We're friends. That's it."

"Do you usually let your male friends into your bedroom?" Logan asked, sounding hurt by the idea.

"Of course not," Max replied. "Alec came looking for me when I didn't show up for my shift. You know I hate being alone when I'm like this."

"And it had to be him, didn't it?" Logan asked, taking a deep breath. "They couldn't have sent Jett or Mole or – God – even Jess. It had to be him."

"Alec used to be your friend too, remember?" Max said softly.

"We were never friends, Max," Logan told her. "Not really."

"I came clean, Logan," she reminded him. "I told you I lied about me and Alec being together. I told he was angry because I dragged him into it. Why can't you let it go?"

"You were breeding partners," Logan replied.

"And he never laid a hand on me because I wouldn't let him. Is that it? You're afraid we're genetically programmed or something?" Max sounded horrified by the thought. "If that's true, how the hell did we ever get anywhere?"

"I seem to recall that we didn't," Logan told her. "One kiss and then Manticore took you away."

"I came back," she pointed out, moving closer so she could look him in the eyes.

"And even then we couldn't be anything," he said hopelessly. "We still can't. I can't even touch you and he… he can."

"That doesn't mean I want him to," she said softly. "The virus is going down. It's taking longer than we thought it would but it'll happen. I promise."

Logan held out a gloved hand and twined his fingers with hers. Somewhere in the back of her mind, the difference between Logan's touch and Alec's registered. Layers of smooth rubber compared to warm, slightly work-roughened skin. Resolutely she pushed the thought away, concentrating on the vulnerable man standing before her.

"I'm sorry," Logan whispered.

"It's okay," she told him gently. "I know this is hard. I hate it too but I can't risk losing you. This place is dangerous for you." She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "Promise you'll be more careful."

"I promise," Logan said, nodding slightly as Max twitched involuntarily. "Are you okay?"

"Not really," she admitted. Logan gently steered her towards the couch and sat down across from her as she stretched out and got comfortable.

"Where're your pills?" he asked.

"In the bedroom, on the table," she told him.

"Back in a second," he said with a slight smile, moving off to retrieve the bottle. He was as good as his word, returning with the Tryptophan quickly. "Have you eaten at all?" he asked.

She shook her head tiredly.

"I'll see if I can whip up a quick culinary miracle," he offered. "There's usually some pretty interesting ingredients in your fridge."

As he moved into the kitchen, Max was already drifting back to sleep. Strangely, her last thought was that all she really wanted was scrambled eggs and toast.

**Sector Seven, Terminal City, Haze Bar**

Alec found Jess exactly where he'd predicted, re-stocking the bar's alcohol supplies for the coming night. Haze was her baby, her pet project, and no doubt the first in a long line. As usual, her long creamy hair was worn loose, the purple streaks giving her a punk-rock look.

Jess heard him before she saw him and looked up, a welcoming smile lighting up her face.

"Hey, baby brother. What's up?" she asked, though she didn't pause in her work.

"Just thought I'd stop by," he said with a slight shrug. "Rand's covering my shift."

"Hmm. So that's where he disappeared to," Jess said as she quickly inspected a bottle of bourbon. "Anything wrong?"

"Not really. Why do you ask?"

"Because you don't miss a shift unless you've got a damn good reason," Jess observed, meeting his eyes. "Come on. Spill it."

"Max didn't show up for her shift so I went looking for her," Alec explained. "She wasn't in very good shape."

"Seizures?" Jess surmised. Alec nodded.

"Yeah, so I stuck around to make sure she was okay," Alec continued with a sigh, "and Logan walked in."

"You need a drink," Jess decided. She pulled out two fresh glasses and quickly poured them both a nip of her best scotch. "What happened?"

"It didn't go well," Alec said simply as he took a sip from the glass Jess handed him.

"I'll bet," Jess drawled.

_Note to self: remind Logan why he should be afraid… very afraid_, Jess thought venomously.

"You know what Logan needs?" Alec asked rhetorically, though she answered anyway.

"A laxative?" Jess suggested, almost causing Alec to choke on his drink as he laughed.

"Not my first choice but workable," Alec replied after he'd finally managed to swallow.

"I could work on Logan if you like," she said slyly. "I'm pretty good when it comes to behavioural modification."

"You mean like you modified Max's tendencies to hit me?" Alec scoffed. "By smacking her across the head?"

"Don't knock it. It worked, didn't it?" Jess pointed out. "Different methods work for different people. Subtlety and Max just don't mesh."

"Which might explain the personality clash between you two," Alec mused aloud before he took a sip of his drink, staring down into the glass.

"Probably," Jess agreed with a grin. "Come on, I promise I won't do any permanent damage. I'll just scare him a little bit."

"I don't think so, Jessie," Alec said, shaking his head. "Things are tense enough between him and Max without you messing with his head."

"His head needs messing with," Jess argued. "The man treats us like pets. Besides, it's not the tension between Max and Logan that I'm worried about."

"You keep saying that," Alec pondered, eyeing her curiously.

"Consider it an apology for screwing the both of you over when I first showed up," Jess replied. "I got you shot, for God's sake."

"Don't sweat it, Jessie. The leg's as good as new."

"You're still limping," she pointed out.

"Only a little," he corrected her. "Give it another week, you'll never even know I was hit. It's all good."

"Yeah, all right," she said, dropping the subject. "So is Max okay?"

"She will be," Alec replied confidently. "I left her some extra Tryptophan, just in case."

"And the great and powerful Eyes Only will nurse her back to health, I'm sure," Jess said, rolling her eyes as she reached under the counter and pulled out a full bottle of Tryptophan pills. She tossed it to him and he caught it deftly.

"Jessie, you can't –"

"Don't argue," she told him, holding up a hand to forestall a protest. "I've got my sources. I can get more easily enough. I've got your back."

"By sources, I guess you mean Rand?" Alec asked curiously.

"Not in this case," Jess replied, shaking her head. "With Tryptophan being a bit hard to buy in bulk these days, he's playing by the book on that one."

"So, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly is going on with you two?" Alec queried her.

"We're negotiating," she said, a sparkle in her blue-green eyes.

"Negotiating?" Alec asked in amusement. "Negotiating what?"

"The benefits of our friendship," Jess clarified. Alec chuckled and shook his head.

"Well, knowing the both of you, that shouldn't take too long," he told her. He downed the last of the scotch in one swallow.

"Probably not. Neither of us does the whole 'serious relationship' thing," Jess admitted with a smile. "Are you okay with it?"

"Sure. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Just checking. He's your friend. I don't want to cross any lines," she explained.

"Don't worry, Jessie. In that arena, I think you might have met your match," Alec teased.

"Is that so?" Jess asked, her curiosity piqued. "Interesting…"

Alec grinned at her. "Are you doing anything for the next hour or so?"

"Nope. I'm all yours," she replied, stepping out from behind the bar.

"What do you say we hit the gym early?"

"I still don't think a few mats qualifies that building as a gym," Jess pointed out.

"Maybe that should be your next project," Alec offered.

"Maybe," Jess said with a nod. "Okay, I'm in. Just promise me you're not gonna be a gentleman again. I always feel like I'm being patronised."

"I don't think that'll be an issue today," Alec replied, a flash of lingering anger in his hazel eyes. Jess just grinned at him, satisfied that he'd keep to his word.

"Atta boy."


	6. Defiance

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL**

**Chapter 6: Defiance**

**Sector Seven, Terminal City Headquarters, The Next Day**

_Ordinaries don't know anything about anything_.

Brax gazed down at the perimeter security feeds in disgust. Hundreds, even thousands, of people surrounded Terminal City's entire twenty block radius. They shouted and screamed. They built wooden Xs and set them alight. Yet he doubted any one of them had any real idea of what was going on as they cowered behind the military that had fenced the 'freaks' in. Troops, armed to the teeth, monitored the outer limits, believing they had the Manticoreans just where they wanted them. Tanks surrounded them. Helicopters did fly-bys at least six times a day, searching for any hint of movement, any sign of a threat.

Each side simply waited for the other to make a move, to break the fragile cease-fire.

There were still people in Seattle like Normal and Original Cindy who were fighting for transgenics in their own way – by educating people. They did everything they could to show the ordinaries that the transgenics weren't monsters. They lived by the mantra that looks could be deceiving.

Brax prayed that they could get their message across. It was pretty stupid for a genetically-engineered killing machine to ask some vague higher power for help but that was exactly what he'd been doing. He'd been reluctant to engage in a full-blown war for their freedom from the start but now he wasn't just protecting himself. Shaine was pregnant and he didn't want their child to grow up without one or both of its parents.

Brax had never really feared for Shaine's safety. She was as dangerous as he was and when she lost her temper she was probably even more so. He hadn't understood Mole's attitude towards Gem and Eve, his single-minded determination to make sure nothing could touch them. Now he knew how it felt to be in the DAC unit's sizeable shoes.

The thought of his son or daughter made Brax smile briefly. Privately, he was rather partial to having a daughter. A little girl with her mother's gorgeous dark eyes. Besides, there was enough testosterone flying around Terminal City already.

Another female, Cody, had gone into heat just ten days ago and it had almost resulted in a brawl at Haze. He'd been there with Shaine after his shift and he'd never appreciated just how devastating her right hook could be. The pheromones had hit him and Shaine hadn't wasted her breath trying to talk him down. She'd punched him in the side of the head and dragged him back to their apartment.

_Yep. That's my girl_, he thought ruefully. _She always was a knockout_.

He'd heard afterwards that Jess had waded into the fray and grabbed Cody, taking her to minimum safe distance before anyone damaged her establishment. It was something that few ordinaries could understand, or even wanted to understand.

Mankind feared anything that was different.

The population of Terminal City was certainly that, and much more.

There were many types of transgenics, particularly within the X5 series. All were much stronger than humans, capable of moving so fast they became no more than a blur to the naked eye. All had heightened senses of vision, hearing and even smell. Few realized how diverse they truly were.

Combat models like himself were bred for muscular strength and enhanced bone density. They were natural leaders and had proven their worth on the battlefield. Several of their kind had assumed command roles at Manticore - Rand, the late-and-hated Cain. Even 599, Max's big brother Zack, the missing leader of the infamous 09ers, had a certain reputation among X5s.

Others, like Jett, were built specifically for speed with superior nerve-conduction velocity. They had one of the greatest advantages in single combat, their reflexes so highly developed that few could land a blow. They were assassins, pure and simple.

The nocturnals, like Max and Ember, were optimized for fighting under cover of darkness. With their incredibly keen senses and non-existent sleep requirements, most of the nocturnals were currently pulling night duty. They seemed to be grateful to have something to fill part of their twenty-three hours days. Brax was the first to admit that with the exception of the Haze Bar, Terminal City was lacking in entertainment.

Finally, there were the stealths, whose hallmark had always been flexibility – flexibility of both body and mind. He'd never seen anything move the way they did. They were designed to be smarter, brighter even than their transgenic brethren. It made them perfect for undercover work. They were like sponges. They absorbed everything, remembered everything… and if you didn't keep them busy, they got into mischief.

Alec had taught the transgenics that lesson. On his own, outside of Manticore, with no chain of command to keep him in line, he'd been like a kid in a candy store. He always had a few things working, his overly-creative brain finding new things to keep him amused. He'd been bored and it had gotten him into endless strife.

Biggs had been the same, a friend not only to Alec but to Brax, Rand and Jett. He'd been one of the boys. They still missed him, especially when it was just the four of them together, having a laugh.

Brax had seen the way Manticore had trained both Alec and Biggs. They'd been taught to use their agility, their unique ability to contort. The two males had always hated it and Brax doubted that Alec had bothered to keep up that part of his training. Alec preferred karate or kickboxing to gymnastics and acrobatics. It was almost a shame. A stealth might lose a contest of brute strength but they could pull off moves no other transgenic could master.

Which brought him back to an issue he'd been meaning to talk to Max about.

_Jess_. Brax sighed and shook his head. That girl was trouble – well, more trouble – waiting to happen.

Unlike her 'baby brother' – _God, that cracks me up_, he thought merrily – Jess had absolutely nothing to do with her time except serve drinks, count the night's take and flirt with Rand. Which left her with about ten hours a day where she was bored stupid, barred from doing anything constructive. Even guard duty was out of the question when they needed every decent set of eyes they had.

Brax was under no illusions that Max's ban would keep Jess in line for much longer. The blonde was getting frustrated by the restrictions placed on her. It was one thing to stay within Terminal City's limits when you had the option to leave. It was another thing to be trapped.

It was common knowledge that Max and Jess didn't get along. In fact, that was putting it lightly. Brax had found Max's reaction to the vivacious blonde rather intriguing. Usually the brunette at least gave her fellow freaks the benefit of the doubt until she could prove they didn't deserve it. Yet she'd been dark on Jess from the moment she realized the newcomer was important to Alec.

It was about damn time their fearless leader learned that she wasn't the only female in Alec's life of any consequence. It'd do her good in the long run if they were ever going to get off the ground. The problem was that, no matter how much he denied it, Alec wasn't as bad-ass as he liked to think he was. He wouldn't steal another guy's girl and Max was clinging to Logan like a limpet, desperate for that small piece of normality that he represented.

Shaine believed they'd figure it out but Brax wasn't so sure. No matter how amped up a transgenic's IQ was, in some respects they were still just plain stupid.

**Sector Seven, Terminal City Gymnasium**

Jess stepped into the centre of the mat. She centred herself, took a deep breath and began.

She moved straight into a handstand, holding herself in that position for several seconds before she slowly lowered herself down so that her nose almost touched the floor. She straightened her arms again and shifted, lifting her weaker arm into the air. She let her legs part to keep her balance and slowly twisted until she had to switch arms.

She could feel her left arm trembling slightly from the effort. The wound to her shoulder had healed but getting the muscles back into top condition was taking a little bit longer. She held it for as long as she could. The muscles spasmed and she let her feet drop back onto the floor. She gave her arm a shake and grimaced as she decided to try something different.

_Okay. If at first you don't succeed_…

Four weeks she'd been stuck in Terminal City. Four long, boring weeks. It made Jess grit her teeth.

She'd thought she was done taking orders. She hadn't been that good at it, even before she'd been sent to Quantico with the rest of the X5R unit, so after twenty years of military authority she'd been thoroughly enjoying the lack. Yet no matter how hard she tried to stay off the radar, she always managed to stir up trouble.

She heard the door swing open and she almost groaned when she realized who it was.

Max.

_I've gotta get out of here_, Jess thought with a frustrated sigh as she moved into another handstand and shifted her centre of balance. She arched her back until her buttocks were touching her head, her legs pointing straight up in the air.

"Where'd you stash your spine?" Max asked, folding her arms across her chest as Jess began to unfold from her back-breaking position.

"Missing in action," Jess replied, returning to a standing position. She stretched her arm upwards, straightening her spine again.

"Sounds like your conscience," Max snarked.

"Good to know we're on the same page." A smirk, quite reminiscent of Alec's, flashed across Jess's face. "Was there something you wanted?"

"I'm looking for Alec. I figured you'd know where he is," Max said honestly.

"What, you don't have him lojacked?" Jess asked in bemusement.

"Do you know where he is or not?" Max asked impatiently.

Jess seemed to consider her for a moment before answering.

"He's at that abandoned building on Parish and Beechwood," she finally replied. "Apparently it's no Space Needle but it does the job."

Max shifted slightly, irrationally annoyed that Jess knew about her cherished haunt. She didn't want Jess anywhere near the Space Needle. Then she remembered that Jess wasn't allowed leave TC and the tension eased.

"Thanks," she said grudgingly as she turned to leave.

Jess hesitated and bit her lip. She wasn't likely to get another chance to talk to Max without anyone else around.

"Max, wait up a sec."

_Play nice, Jess_, she reminded herself sternly as Max turned around warily. _Well, nic_er_ anyway_.

"Look, I'm only going to ask once and I might even choke before I finish this sentence but… will you _please_ lift the active duty ban?"

"You can't be serious," Max said in obvious bemusement, folding her arms across her chest.

"I'm very serious," Jess replied, her hackles rising. "I've been stuck on the sidelines for a month."

"And whose fault is that?" Max pointed out sharply. "I don't trust you and until I do, I'm not giving you any opportunities to make Terminal City's situation worse. Get the picture?"

"Yeah. I get it," Jess said blandly, not giving the brunette an inch.

"If you earn it, I'll lift the ban. Until then, don't bother asking me again."

Max turned her back on Jess and stalked towards the exit, unaware of the sly smile curving the blonde's lips.

_Oh, don't worry, Max_, Jess thought mischievously. _I won't_.

**Sector Three, Corner of Parish and Beechwood**

Alec stood on top of the abandoned building, his arms folded across his chest, staring out across their city. From above, it seemed so peaceful. In the distance he could hear the roar of the crowds pressing in on them, determined to eradicate the transgenic threat.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He heard her before he saw her. He knew immediately that it was Max. He recognized the rhythm of her footsteps.

"How'd you find me?" he asked.

"Jess told me where you were," Max informed him and Alec looked around in surprise.

"You talked to Jess? Voluntarily?"

"Yeah," she said with a nod as she moved to sit down on the edge. "I needed to know where to find you."

"Are you sure you should be up here?" he asked in concern as he lowered himself to sit beside her, letting his legs dangle over the side of the building.

"Maybe not," Max said with a slight shrug, "but it's not like you'd let me fall or anything."

"Actually, I meant that I don't think Logan wants you anywhere near me," he told her with a tiny smile, "but thanks for the vote of confidence."

"I'm sorry about Logan," Max told him. "He was out of line."

"He was angry," Alec said with a sigh. "It happens."

"Well, it shouldn't have happened," Max replied as he continued to stare off into space. "Come on, look at me."

After a moment he did as she asked. Hazel eyes collided with brown and Max smiled softly.

"No-one tells me who I can and can't be friends with. Okay?"

Sensing that she meant what she said, Alec grinned at her. "Okay." She leaned over and nudged his shoulder playfully with hers.

"So, you got any deep thoughts you wanna share? Any profound realizations about life?" she asked.

He grinned at her, remembering the night he'd asked her the very same questions.

"Yeah. Logan's timing sucks."

Max laughed softly, nodding in agreement.

"No argument," she replied.

"So are you two okay?" Alec asked, looking over at her.

"It's all good," Max told him. "He went back to Sandeman's old place about an hour ago."

"I'm not gonna pretend that's bad news," Alec informed her.

"I was kinda relieved to see him go, actually."

"You were?" Alec asked, looking slightly puzzled.

"He's not a part of this," Max explained, gesturing towards the toxic city below. "He can't be. Maybe one day we can have a middle ground but right now… we both have jobs to do. He's got his own little world to go back to. Mine's right here."

"Do you mean that?" Alec seemed slightly hopeful.

"Don't worry, smart ass. He won't be invading your turf," she assured him.

"Smart _alec_, Maxie. What's this obsession with my ass?" he teased.

"You wish," she grumbled happily. "Just keep your ass away from mine and we won't have a problem."

"Aw, just my ass? That leaves a lot of open territory, don't you think?" She smacked him lightly on the shoulder, grinning at his mock-wounded expression. His trademark smirk flashed across his handsome face.

"Good to have you back, Maxie," he told her. She smiled in return.

"It's good to be back."

For a moment they just sat in companionable silence, taking in the scene laid out in front of them.

"I still can't believe you talked to Jess," Alec said suddenly, shaking his head. "You must have wanted to find me pretty badly."

"Well, I figured if she wasn't glued to your hip, she'd probably know where your hips were headed."

"I could go so many places with that but I won't," Alec said wickedly, chuckling.

"You know, she actually asked me to lift the active duty ban," Max told him.

"Jess _asked_ you?" Alec asked in disbelief, wondering if she was having him on.

"Yeah. Can you believe that?" Max scoffed. "Like I'm gonna inflict her on the duty roster."

_Oh boy_, Alec thought, a sinking feeling in his stomach.

He doubted that Max had any idea how much it would've cost Jess to swallow her pride and ask for permission. She was probably plotting her escape at that very moment and he knew she was capable of pulling it off. Their kind weren't called stealths for nothing.

"How'd she take it?" he asked, hoping he sounded casual. He didn't want Max to hit the roof over yet another Jess-related debacle.

Max shrugged. "She didn't say much. Why?"

"Just curious."


	7. Ripples

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**Chapter 7: Ripples**

**Sector Seven, Terminal City, The Sewers, 11am**

Jess crept carefully through the sewers, her sensitive ears listening for any sign of the transgenics who patrolled the maze beneath Terminal City.

The irony of ending up in another sewer wasn't lost on her. After her near-drowning a month ago she wasn't exactly thrilled to be there but it had three things going for it – it had the lightest security in Terminal City, no cameras in case of flooding and she'd memorized the layout.

So in the spirit of remaining unseen, Jess was dressed in basic black, her creamy hair braided to keep it out of her way. The collar of her jacket was high enough to conceal her barcode, and Seattle seemed content to assume that the entire transgenic population was living in Terminal City. All in all, she figured she'd be back in time for dinner with no one the wiser.

Alec would kill her if he knew what she was up to but a girl could only take so much.

The patrols were set up to detect multiple soldiers, not a lone transgenic. Like a wraith she blurred from tunnel to tunnel, leaping silently from the floor to the pipes overhead as necessary to stay out of sight.

It took Jess about forty-five minutes to weave her way out. The map she'd laid out in her mind would bring her out about three blocks north of Terminal City, behind enemy lines.

She pulled herself smoothly out of the manhole, careful that no-one noticed her unorthodox entrance. She breathed deeply and took a moment to enjoy the feeling.

_Ahhh… Freedom_.

With a smug smile, Jess strode out of the alley and into the city she hadn't been free to roam in just over a month. She turned into the street, teeming with ordinaries, police and civilians alike, and surveyed her surroundings. If she looked down the road behind her, she could see the Terminal City boundary and the military entrenched outside the fence,

For a split-second, her self-preservation instincts kicked in. She could run. She could walk away and never look back, go somewhere new, where no-one knew who she was.

But that would mean leaving Alec – again – and she dismissed the idea immediately. Manticore had separated them once. She refused to let it happen again.

Running was for 09ers. She'd go back but for the moment she had other plans.

_Now, what's the quickest route to Sector Three?_

**Sector Seven, Terminal City Headquarters, 12 noon**

"Has anybody seen Jess?"

Brax looked up as Alec strode into the command centre, a slight frown on his face.

"This is Headquarters, pal. Why would anyone here have seen her when she's not allowed within fifty feet of the building?" Brax pointed out.

Well, yeah, if you wanna be logical about it," Alec grumbled.

"Trouble?" Brax asked warily.

"Maybe," Alec hedged. "She asked Max to lift the ban and Max told her to go to hell."

Brax simply pulled out his cell phone and hit speed dial number three.

"Hey Rand, have you seen Jess today?"

"_I'm almost at Haze now. Why?_" Rand asked.

"Alec thinks she might have flown the coop. Hit me back if she's not there."

"_You got it_," Rand replied.

Brax ended the call and look up at Alec. "You heard that?"

Alec simply nodded. "We keep this quiet, okay? If Max finds out, it won't be pretty."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Brax assured him. "Have you checked her apartment?"

"First place I looked. She's not at the gym either," Alec said, folding his arms across his chest.

"She doesn't have a phone?"

"She didn't need one," Alec replied with a quick shake of his head.

"Is her motorcycle still in the garage?"

"The guards know they're not supposed to let her out," Alec replied. "That motorcycle's still officially classified as confiscated goods. Besides, it'd be too obvious. Jess doesn't work that way."

"So how do you think she'd get out?" Brax asked, pulling a map of Terminal City out of his desk. The two men studied it intently, both running through the possibilities.

"The fence is out," Alec mused. "Too heavily guarded by both sides."

"The tunnels are no good," Brax pointed out. "Only the X6 guides come and go on a regular basis. All other personnel have to be authorized by the CO on duty. She'd get caught."

"The sewers," Alec surmised.

"You think?" Brax asked, clearly a little sceptical.

"She wouldn't like it after last time but she'd do it," Alec replied. "Strategically speaking, it's our weakest point."

"Yeah, we're just lucky the ordinaries know the risks as well as we do," Brax thought out loud. "If it flooded, both sides would get washed out."

"Who's down there now?"

"We've got two units, all split into pairs," Brax informed him. "Hey, Dix!"

"Yeah?" the little transhuman called out.

"Find out if the sewer patrols have come across any activity," Brax told him.

"We expecting any?" Dix asked curiously.

"Just ask for me, Dix," Brax said firmly, his tone indicating that no more information would be forthcoming. Dix shrugged and obeyed. A few moments passed before the crackle of the radios came through and the two X5s listened in automatically.

"Headquarters to Sewer Patrol. Come in."

"_What's up, Dix? It's Abe. Over_."

"Hey, anything going on downstairs? Over." Dix asked in his usual happy manner.

"_Nothing except a few rats_. _I'd kill for some action right about now. Over_."

"Thanks pal. Brax just wanted an update," Dix explained.

"_No problem. Over_."

"No surprises there," Alec said with a sigh of resignation. "Jess was always good at escape and evade."

"Exactly how good?" Brax asked.

"Are you forgetting that she slipped through a twelve-unit drag-net a month ago?"

"Yeah, she broke my nose while she was at it," Brax recalled, absent rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"And knocked you unconscious," Alec chimed in helpfully.

"Thanks so much for reminding me," Brax drawled sarcastically.

"Anytime," Alec said with a chuckle while Brax gave him a quelling look. His cell phone began ringing and he quickly answered it.

"Rand?" Brax asked.

"_She's not here, man_," Rand informed him.

"Okay, just keep an eye out for her and call us if you see her," Brax replied.

"_Gotcha. Later_," Rand said. The rhythmic beep heralded the end of the call and Brax pocketed his phone.

"What do you think?" Brax asked. Alec shook his head.

"If she doesn't want to be found, we won't find her," he told them. "We'll deal with it when she gets back."

"When who gets back?"

Alec winced as he realized Max had walked into Headquarters and was now standing behind him. He turned and gave her a quick smile as he summoned up a response.

"Shaine forgot her cell phone," Brax interjected smoothly, saving Alec from having to lie to Max. "She was supposed to call me after her check-up today."

"And that needs dealing with?" she asked curiously.

"What can I say? I'm over-protective," Brax replied, prompting to Max to laugh softly.

"Like Shaine needs protecting," she scoffed. Brax grinned and nodded, conceding the point. "Anyway," Max continued, "thought I'd better find out when my next shift picks up."

"Has the infirmary given you the all-clear?" Brax asked.

"I was just there," Max said with a nod.

"Okay, you can pick up tonight's shift if you want," Brax offered. "Starts at ten. Mole needs a night off. After that we'll just follow the rosters as usual."

"Good. I'll see you guys later," Max said with a smile, her unusually good mood drawing the attention of the command centre staff, who were all staring at her in bemusement. She bestowed a particularly bright smile on Alec and headed towards the door.

"Thanks," Alec said softly, his gaze fixed on Max's retreating form.

"This means I'll have to fill Shaine in," Brax observed.

"I figured. Thank her for me too," Alec told him. Brax merely nodded.

"Go on, get outta here. I'll call you if we find anything."

**Sector Seven, Terminal City, Jett and Ember's Apartment, 12 noon**

Ember was in Bo's room when she heard the first stirrings of Jett's nightmares. Soft, broken moans. A growl thrown in here and there. She heard the sheets rustling as he thrashed in his sleep, the scene his mind was conjuring all too real as far as he was concerned.

For almost a fortnight he'd been struggling with what Cain had done to him. He wouldn't admit it, of course. Cain had done more than just torture Jett – he'd made him a victim. Everything in Jett refused to deal with it – X5s weren't victims. During his waking hours he pretended that nothing had ever happened.

Only when he slept did the truth reveal itself. Ember was on the verge of tearing her hair out. He refused to open up, to let her help. He wouldn't even acknowledge that he needed help. She was the only one who knew. She watched as he got up every day, more and more exhausted because he couldn't get a decent night's sleep, and every time he tried to catch up, like he was now, it went horribly wrong.

With a final glance at her wide-eyed son, Ember crept into the room she shared with Jett.

"Jett," she said softly, reaching out to touch him on the shoulder. "Baby, wake up."

He tensed under her hand, his breathing becoming harsh as the dream refused to release him. She stroked his hair away from his face.

"Come on, baby. It's not real," she whispered soothingly. "Jett?"

She carefully gave his shoulder a final shake.

Jett's eyes snapped open. He moved so fast that Ember had no time to react. He turned on her with a bestial snarl, his hands wrapping themselves around her neck, more animal at that moment than man as he threw her against the wall.

"Jett," she croaked as she tried to pry his hands away from her throat. "Jett, you're hurting me…"

Suddenly she felt him go still, saw awareness dawn in his dark eyes. Eyes that widened in horror as he realized what he was doing.

"Ember?" he whispered, his voice shaking. He released her immediately and recoiled, backing up so quickly he almost tripped over the edge of their bed. Ember's hand jumped instinctively to her neck.

She reached out to take his hand, hoping to calm him.

"Don't touch me!" he cried, wrenching himself out of her grasp to blur out of the apartment.

"Jett!" Ember called after him, knowing she couldn't leave Bo alone. "Jett, wait!

It was too late.

He was gone.


	8. Family

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**Chapter 8: Family**

**Sector Seven, Terminal City Headquarters, 1pm**

Brax was going over the latest tech reports when his phone went off. He answered it on the second ring, excusing himself from Dix and Luke, who both nodded in understanding.

"Brax here."

"_It's Ember_," a feminine voice replied. "_When do you finish your shift?_"

"About an hour," Brax replied, a little surprised to receive a call from the redhead. "What's up?"

"_We need a family meeting_," she told him. "_Can you bring Alec and Rand in when you're done?_"

"Alec's out but I can get Rand. Your place?"

"_That's probably not such a good idea_," Ember hedged.

Brax frowned but didn't press her for information. "Okay. My place. I'll let Shaine know."

**Sector Seven, Terminal City, Mole and Gem's Apartment Building, 1pm**

Max brought her Ninja to a halt outside the weather-beaten building and jumped off, sweeping her hair back over her shoulder. It had been several days since she'd seen Mole and she kind of felt guilty for ignoring him. He was her friend, after all, and he'd helped cover for her while she was in a bad way. She owed him one.

She strode inside, her feet treading the well-worn path to Mole and Gem's home without conscious guidance.

Mole's door was wide open, as it usually was when he was home. People had been visiting on a regular basis since he and Gem had returned from Harbour Lights hospital and he'd gotten sick of having to answer the door.

The scene laid out before her wasn't one she'd soon forget. He was circling the main room, gently jiggling little Eve, who was sitting in his arms, gurgling happily. Max couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face as she watched the enormous lizard-man, sans cigar, playing Mister Mom.

"Hey, mind if I come in?" she asked, making him look up.

"Do whatcha gotta do," Mole said, slipping back into his usual gruff manner as Max stepped over the threshold.

"Just thought I'd swing by, let you know I'm back on the roster," she told him. "I'm taking tonight's shift, so you're off the hook." Max managed to not laugh at the relieved look on Mole's leathery face.

"Thanks, it'll give Ember a night off," Mole replied. "This one's a handful."

"She's transgenic. It's part of the job description," Max pointed out, grinning at the adorable little girl who had her hands tangled in Mole's jacket, tugging on it repeatedly.

"No shit. She should have been asleep two hours ago," Mole grumbled, shaking his head in frustration.

"When are they releasing Gem?" she asked quickly.

"Three days," Mole replied. "She's going stir crazy in there."

Max could well believe it. Even during the Jam Pony siege, in the middle of labour, Gem had refused to sit back and let others do the heavy lifting. Normal still talked about how she'd punched out a Familiar in the chaos. No one bothered to point out that they all knew he hadn't actually seen it himself. He'd been too busy helping Gem bring little Eve into the world.

Eve Elliott was Terminal City's first official miracle.

A low whistle from the direction of the kitchen made Mole look up.

"Take her for a sec," Mole said, depositing Eve into Max's hands before she could protest.

"No… wait…" she stammered uncertainly as Mole strode into the kitchen. She glanced nervously down at the child, feeling completely out of her depth. In contrast, the baby girl smiled, her green eyes studying Max's face.

_Come on_, a little voice whispered in her mind. _If a bad-ass like Mole can handle her twenty-four-seven, you can hold her for a minute or two_.

Mole re-emerged quickly with a bottle of warm milk in his hand and Max placed the child in his free arm, feeling profoundly relieved. She definitely wasn't the maternal type.

"I'll see you round," she told him, turning to leave.

"Hey, Max," Mole called after her.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for taking the shift."

**Sector Three, Sandeman's House, 1pm**

Jess wandered silently through Logan's home, memorizing the layout of the residence for future reference. The last time she'd been here, it had pretty much been a snatch-and-grab operation. She hadn't bothered to take a good look at the place.

Eyes Only was three rooms away, blissfully unaware of her presence as he tinkered with his computer systems. The man's naiveté amazed her. He had virtually no security in place, relying on his anonymity to keep him safe. Sure, he could detect a trace but he had absolutely no idea that a genetically-engineered killing machine was currently checking out his house, idly flicking through the worn books that were strewn throughout it on shelves, chairs and the floor alike.

She'd heard from Alec that Logan's house had once belonged to a man named Sandeman, apparently the founder of Manticore and ex-cult loony. It was bad enough to grow up knowing you were classified as military wet-ware but the idea that a Familiar had anything to do with her existence was beyond distasteful.

Then again, Joshua insisted that his 'Father' was a good guy. She'd asked him, out of curiosity, when she'd loaned him her copy of the Wizard of Oz. The smile that had come to the dog-man's face had been rather infectious. He described a kind, caring man who'd loved him and his transhuman brothers, treating them like sons. It was hard to despise a man you'd never met when someone like Joshua gave them such a rave review.

Alec had given her the skinny on the entire situation, knowing she'd just find out anyway if he didn't fill her in. Max's magical tattoos had intrigued Jess quite a bit but she doubted she'd ever have a chance to see them. Apparently Logan had translated as much as he could to get the gist of the messages but he hadn't been able to refine it – the problem was that no-one had ever deciphered the entire Minoan alphabet.

Jess smirked. _Give me and Alec everything they've got on that language and about twenty-four hours to work with. I'd put money on us breaking it down_.

Perhaps it was arrogant to make a statement like that but Jess had good reason to think they could pull it off. Even the most basic transgenic models were designed with superior mental processing abilities. With the stealths they'd taken it up another couple of notches. She and Alec had held the record for original thinking back at Manticore. It had given them the edge they needed whenever they faced the combat or velocity models in combat training. She'd put Lane in his place on more than one occasion, which she was still quite proud of.

Jess heard Logan walking towards her and sauntered into the next room, staying out of sight. Logan rifled through some papers for a minute or two until he found what he was looking for and returned to his computer. Jess followed him at a more leisurely pace. She leaned against the door frame, staying off to his side so that while she was out of his line of sight, she also didn't risk being caught in the screen's reflection.

Jess smiled slightly as he typed in his new password to unlock the screen, instantly committing it to memory.

She honestly couldn't believe it. She was standing five feet away. She could snap his neck right there and he'd never know what hit him. With a disgusted shake of her head, she rolled her eyes and stepped back into the other room. She should just bust his cosy little bubble and get it over with.

Then she heard his cell phone ring and focused on listening to the ensuing conversation.

"Logan Cale."

"_Hey, Logan. Just thought I'd let you know I'm passing the Sector Five checkpoint._"

Jess frowned slightly, a chill running down her spine_. I know that voice_…

"_We still meeting at Crash?_"

"Yeah, I'll be there in about an hour."

"_Are you sure getting into Terminal City won't be an issue?_"

"You're X5. By definition, you have more right to be there than I do. I'll tell you more when I see you."

"_Gotcha. Out_."

_What the hell are you up to?_ Jess wondered as she slunk towards the back of the house where Logan's car was parked. Good ol' Bessie, bullet holes and all.

Jess jimmied the lock and slipped into the trunk, pulling the door closed quickly. She did her best to get comfortable and sighed in exasperation. Curiosity was going to get her killed one of these days.

_Here we go again_.

**Sector Seven, Terminal City, Brax and Shaine's Apartment, 2pm**

Rand was the last to stride into Brax's home, running a careless hand through his chestnut hair. He found Ember, Brax and Shaine already sitting down, watching him expectantly.

"Okay, I'm here. What's the emergency?" Rand asked as he pulled up a chair. "Where's Jett?"

"Not here," Ember replied. "It's him I wanted to talk to you guys about. I'm worried about him. He hasn't been sleeping well."

"Isn't that normal with a baby in the house?" Brax asked with a slight smile.

"It's not Bo," Ember denied quickly. "Jett's been different and it's getting worse. It's about what Cain did to him."

"Go on," Rand said, folding his arms as he listened.

"He was okay at first but for about the last two weeks… He's been moody, angry. He's been having nightmares – bad ones."

"How bad?" Rand asked carefully.

She pulled down the turtleneck to reveal the dark bruises that marred her skin. All three stared in horror at the marks.

"Jett did that?" Brax asked.

"Not intentionally," Ember assured them. "I was trying to wake him up and he came out swinging."

"Jesus…" Rand breathed, reaching out to examine the bruises more closely. "He had you in a choke hold?"

"Yeah," Ember replied softly. "When he realized what he was doing, he freaked out. He hasn't come back yet."

"So you wanna stage an intervention?" Shaine asked.

"I don't know," Ember replied, chewing her bottom lip. "He's so defensive. What if he shuts down completely?"

"What about Sway?" Brax suggested but Ember shook her head.

"She's PsyOps. Jett'd see that coming a mile off."

"Jess," Rand said suddenly.

"Okay, now is not the time to be thinking with your dick," Brax admonished him. Rand gave him a withering look.

"I mean that this is Jess's area of expertise," Rand explained. "She's not an obvious choice but she's got the skill set."

"Jess…" Ember mused, then looked up at them and nodded. "That could work."

"Except we can't find her," Brax reminded Rand.

"What do you mean?" Ember asked warily.

"Jess jumped ship," Rand told her wearily but the redhead just rolled her eyes.

"Hands up if you didn't see that one coming," Shaine chimed in sarcastically, looking pointedly at the two men. Brax ignored her.

"Look, we'll bring her in when she gets back," he decided.

"_If_ she gets back," Shaine amended.

"_When_ she gets back," Brax told her, meeting her dark eyes with his own. "Alec thinks she's just stretching her legs, so let's trust him on this one. Agreed?"

They all looked at each other and nodded one by one.

"Agreed," Ember declared.

**Sector Five, Crash Bar, 2pm**

Jess stood in the shadows, her vivid eyes methodically searching the bar for Logan. She'd given him sufficient time to get inside before she'd popped the trunk to let herself out and follow him in. It shouldn't be too hard to spot to scruffy cyber-journalist. Somehow, to Jess' way of thinking, he just didn't fit in with this crowd.

Sure enough, he was standing at the bar. Yet it wasn't Logan himself who suddenly had her riveted attention. It was the young X5 standing beside him with a glass in his hand.

Devon.

Her eyes widened in alarm and she ducked outside again, taking a deep breath. For once she wasn't thrilled that she'd been right on the money.

_Hell fucking no._


	9. Be Kind, Rewind

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**Chapter 9: Be Kind, Rewind**

**Sector Five, Crash Bar, 2pm**

_Okay Jess, just breathe and put this into perspective_.

The blonde swallowed hard and took her own advice. She took a couple of slow, deep breaths and sternly suppressed the shiver that snaked its way down her spine. She wasn't going to panic, damn it…

Devon in Seattle. By no stretch of the imagination could that be classified as a good thing. Stendahl wouldn't send any of his precious X5Rs into a city where transgenics were public enemy number one… unless there was something or someone extremely valuable therein. On the heels of that thought, Jess realized she was trembling.

She gave herself a stern shake and closed her eyes for a moment, letting the soldier within come to the fore. Losing control just wasn't something Jess did. Nevertheless, it took a few moments to dispel the sick feeling in her stomach.

Major Malcolm Stendahl – the fucking Devil incarnate. Barring unfortunate accidents, he had only four X5Rs left under his command and now one of them was meeting Logan Cale in secret. Max's 'save-the-world-by-Tuesday' boyfriend working with Jess' own personal antichrist?

_Have I stepped into an alternate universe?_

She had to admit that Logan had played it pretty smart. It was early afternoon and Crash wasn't very crowded. No-one inside was likely to take any notice of the two men and as far as Jess knew, no-one at Terminal City was aware of any new arrivals.

The question is – to call Alec or not to call Alec?

_Jess, you don't know anything for sure at this point. For the love of God, don't overreact and do something stupid. They don't know you're here. Maybe Devon got out like I did._

She instantly dismissed that possibility. All four of Stendahl's X5s were automatons, obedient little soldiers. Deck's re-programming efforts hadn't been wasted on that group.

That, more than anything, made up her mind. She needed more information before she raised the alarm. Not to mention the fact that she was outside TC without permission and she would prefer to keep her ass intact. Max would no doubt relish the opportunity to kick it… or try to kick it, anyway.

With that in mind, Jess slipped back inside and tuned in to the conversation taking place at the bar.

"Any idea when the others are arriving?" the X5 asked, sending Jess' stomach into a somersault.

"I'm working on it," Logan replied. "They're hard to find."

"Comes with the territory," Devon told him. "So how are we getting in?"

"There are tunnels that run underneath TC," Logan informed him. "According to policy, you need an escort but Max is off-duty and I'm not very popular at Headquarters right now. Your platoon doesn't exactly have a sterling reputation either."

Jess' eyes narrowed as Logan gave away that vital piece of information.

"You're suggesting that I sneak in," Devon surmised.

"Only if it's necessary," Logan temporized. "Those body-heat sensors I told you about are also a problem. Rand got his hands on some and they use them to monitor activity in the tunnels."

"Where'd he snatch those from?" Devon asked curiously.

"Knowing him, he probably slept with someone to get them," Logan said disparagingly.

Jess found herself bristling on Rand's behalf. The X5's sex life wasn't any of Logan's business. Then again, she had to concede that it was probably Logan's personal frustration talking. After all, that virus bitch meant he couldn't do anything except fantasise about Max. In that respect, she truly felt sorry for Logan. She doubted she could have lasted as long as the human had without any action. Then again, her feline DNA made it impossible to be celibate for any longer than four months or so.

That put Max in a pretty awful position when her next heat cycle came around. Jess winced a little but shrugged it off. By that time, hopefully Max would have figured out where the grass was much, much greener. Besides, even if the virus hadn't been in the mix, Jess doubted Logan could possibly have satisfied Max. X5 stamina was truly remarkable.

_Get your head in the game, damn it!_ she chided herself, returning her focus to the rather odd pair at the bar. Okay, so she'd still heard every word they'd said but she knew better than to lose her concentration on a reconnaissance mission.

"We'd better leave it until after dark," Logan advised, reaching into his pocket to withdraw a piece of paper, which he handed to the X5. "Meet me here at seven."

"You got it," the transgenic replied as she finished off his scotch. "Thanks for the drink."

By the time she slipped back into the boot of Logan's car, Jess couldn't vouch for her temper.

**Sector Seven, Terminal City, 5pm**

Brax had spent hours searching Terminal City for Jett to no avail. Now he was prowling through one of the few unused areas of the city, all his senses on alert for some sign of his friend. He knew that elsewhere, Rand and Shaine were also combing the twenty-blocks the transgenics called their home.

It was a hunch that had brought Brax to this particular street. This was the last place where anyone would think to look for Jett. Hell, it was the last place Brax had thought of. He didn't like thinking about the state of mind Jett must be in to come back to the place where Cain had mutilated him.

He stopped in front of the Advanced Recombinant Genetics building and put his hands on his hips. He could smell Jett now. It wasn't just the fresh scent from his friend's arrival either.

They'd never been able to get all of Jett's blood out of the floor. Most of it had dried or stained before he'd even been found. To an ordinary, the smell would probably be indiscernible. To an X5, it was all too familiar. The scent of blood always brought back bad memories. Seeing Jett in the Infirmary a month earlier was one of the worst. It flashed through his mind over and over like a movie on instant replay.

Brax braced himself and strode into the building.

There he was, sitting against the very wall where Alec and Ember had found him with a half-empty bottle of Jack Daniels in his hand. Beside him was an already-empty bottle of the same brand.

_Jesus_… Brax thought as he made his way over. It was extremely difficult for a transgenic to get drunk but Jett was giving it a damn good shot. He hunkered down beside his friend, who didn't even acknowledge his presence. He just took another long swig from the bottle.

"Jett," he said gently. When he didn't get a response, he reached out and wrested the bottle from his grasp. "Jett, what the hell are you doing here, man?"

Jett glared up at Brax, his bloodshot eyes burning with anger.

"So you're just gonna sit here and drink yourself stupid?" Brax asked. When Jett made a grab for the bottle, Brax flung it against the wall, where it shattered with a satisfying crash. The next thing Brax knew, he was flat on his back with Jett above him, prepared to strike. Brax reacted instinctively, catching Jett's fist in his hand and kicking out to throw the X5 back. He flipped up onto his feet as Jett landed like the cat he was.

"Is this how it's gonna be, brother?" Brax asked, spreading his arms wide. "You're just gonna smack down anyone who tries to help?"

Jett blanched as he realized that Brax was talking about Ember. He raked a hand through his long hair and turned away, his head bowed. The anger seemed to drain out of him.

"I didn't mean to hurt her," Jett ground out. Brax softened and moved to his friend's side, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I know you didn't," he assured him. "Come on, you can crash at my place."

Jett shook his head grimly. "Not with Shaine there," he replied, obviously afraid he'd be a danger to Brax's pregnant mate.

"All right, we'll figure something else out," Brax suggested instead. "In the meantime, will you please come back with me? I'm not leaving you here."

After a moment, Jett nodded and the two men headed towards the entrance.

"By the way, where'd you score the JD?" Brax asked out of curiosity. A distinctly guilty look flashed across Jett's face and Brax nodded.

"Lucky for you that Jess is off the reservation," Brax informed him. When Jett gave him a quizzical glance, Brax shrugged it off. "Long story, pal."

**Sector Seven, Terminal City Headquarters, 6pm**

Alec couldn't suppress a grin when he saw Max striding into the command centre four hours ahead of schedule. He took a moment to appreciate the view. Long raven hair, caramel skin and that smile… Not to mention the form-fitting jeans and her trademark black tank top.

On some level he'd always admired Max's effortless style. She rarely wore any make-up except for some lip gloss, she never did anything with her hair except run a brush through it and she never, _ever_ wore jewellery. That alone made her very different to most of the women he'd known since Manticore had burned down – red lipstick, trashy clothes… Thinking back, Max was one of the most natural beauties he'd ever known.

"Is that smile for me?" she asked as she approached him, gracing him with a grin of her own.

"You gonna hit me if I say yes?" he teased.

"I don't hit you any more, remember?" she reminded him as she sat down on the chair opposite him.

"Then yes," he replied, his hazel eyes alight with humour. "To do what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I thought I'd better catch up on things before my shift starts," she explained.

"You're bored as hell, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Max agreed instantly. "It's kinda hit home that I have no life."

"You want the truth, Maxie?" Alec asked. She sighed and nodded. "It wouldn't kill you to ease up a bit. How long has it been since you talked to Cindy or Sketchy or, God, even Normal? Fun isn't a four-letter word, you know."

"Is that a roundabout way of telling me I've been really dull lately?" Max asked blandly.

"Brock and Vance have been cleaning toilets for over a month and they've had more fun than you."

Max wrinkled her nose, her expression so comical that Alec chuckled. "Come on, Maxie. You know I'm right."

"Yeah, yeah," she grudgingly conceded. "So what do you suggest?"

"You're free tomorrow morning, right?" he asked. She nodded.

"Yeah, my shift finishes at six," she told him. A mischievous, and infectious, grin curved Alec's mouth. Max struggled to suppress a smile.

"How 'bout I pick you up at nine?" he offered, his green-gold eyes daring her to refuse. Intrigued, Max nodded.

"Okay," she agreed, her lips twitching slightly. "But for now, how about you fill me in on what I've missed over the last couple of days?"

"Yes, ma'am," Alec replied with a mocking little salute.

**Sector Seven, Rendezvous Point, 7pm**

Jess waited until she heard another car approaching and used the noise to cover her exit from Logan's boot. Sure enough, the X5 jumped out of the front seat and approached the human.

"Any luck?" the X5 asked. Logan shook his head.

"Dix is pretty stubborn when Mole gives him a hard time," the human replied. "I'm barred. No escort. You're on your own."

"Look, I really don't think sneaking up on them is the way to go,"the transgenicadvised. "There's gotta be someone at command who'll listen and let us in."

"Not if I've got anything to say about it," Jess declared, stepping out from behind Logan's car. "No way are you taking _that_ into Terminal City."

Logan almost jumped out of his skin, his eyes nearly popping out of his head as he realized who was confronting him.

"You've got it wrong –" he began as the X5 male stepped between the human and the blonde.

"Back off," he warned quietly. "We don't want trouble."

"There's a first," Jess growled, glaring up at the much taller male, whose brow furrowed slightly as he _really_ looked at her.

"Eva?" he said, startling Jess into hesitating. Her expression blanked in surprise.

"What did you just call me?" she demanded, staring at him as the implications of that name sunk in.

"Eva, don't you remember me?" he asked, stuck somewhere between delight and disbelief.

"You're the other one," she realized belatedly.

"Other one?" Krit asked, completely bewildered. "What the hell's going on?" He turned to Logan for an explanation as Jess let out a disgusted groan. "I thought Eva was dead!"

"She is dead. I'm not Eva," Jess snapped, furious with herself for making assumptions.

"Jess, what are you doing outside –" Logan began but she rounded on him angrily.

"Logan, do you value the use of your legs?" Jess asked, ruthlessly cutting him off.

"Yes," Logan said quickly, paling at what she was implying.

"Good. Shut up," Jess said sharply.

"Hey, take it easy," Krit said soothingly, bringing her attention back to him as he moved closer. His movements were slow, cautious. Whoever she was, no matter whose face she was wearing, she was X5 and she was pissed off.

For a long moment, she just gazed up at him, seeing something – or someone – that made her eerily familiar blue-green eyes darken with suspicion.

"Give me your cell phone," Jess said curtly, holding out an expectant hand to Logan.

"Hey, wait a second –"

"Now."

Logan quickly dug the phone out of his pocket and passed it to her. She dialled a number and waited.

"_Go for Alec._"

"Al, it's me."

"_Jessie? How did you get Logan's…? God, don't tell me you're where I think you are_."

"Okay, I won't tell you," Jess replied with a shrug. "Do me a favour and put Max on."

"_What? Are you kidding?_"

"Do I sound like I'm kidding?"

"_You sound suicidal_."

"I'm a big girl, Alec. Hand it over," Jess persisted, figuring she might as well get yelled at sooner rather than later. She was busted either way.

"_All right_," Alec reluctantly agreed. "_Your funeral. Hey, Max, you got a sec?_"

Jess caught Krit studying her intently and glared at him in annoyance. "Hey, stare off," she told him sternly. He raised his hands in a gesture of surrender and obediently looked away.

**Sector Seven, Terminal City Headquarters, 7:03pm**

"What's up?" Max asked, looking up from talking to Dix.

"Jess wants to talk to you," he replied, holding out the phone to her. She took it from him with a slightly puzzled look on her face.

"Jess doesn't have a phone," she thought out loud.

"She borrowed one," Alec prevaricated, "from outside."

Max's eyes narrowed as she lifted the phone to her ear.

"Jess," she began, her tone surprisingly controlled. "Where, exactly, are you?"

"_Let's keep it simple_," Jess suggested. "_Logan says hi_."

"Alec," Max said sweetly over her shoulder. "Tell me this is a prank."

Alec just pursed his lips and shook his head, watching as Max's hopeful expression slowly grew grimmer.

"_Max, just listen for one second and then you can bite my head off, okay?_" Jess interrupted her.

"Fine. What?" Max snapped impatiently.

"_X5-471 mean anything to you?_"

"Of course he does and his name's Krit. Why?"

"_He's standing next to me_."

Max blinked, caught totally off-guard. "Give him the phone."

"_Hey Maxie,_" a familiar voice said, immediately bringing a smile to Max's face. "_How's it going?_"

Alec watched Max out of the corner of his eye, his lips twitching at the sudden turnaround in her mood. He knew it wouldn't last long but Max's smiles were becoming rarer as the lockdown dragged on.

"I'm good. How are you?"

"_I'm staring at a chick who could pass for our dead sister_," Krit replied. "_It's weird_."

"Tell me about it," Max groused. "Where are you?"

"_Logan's rendezvous point_," Krit replied with a touch of humour. _"I was supposed to be a surprise_."

"You were," Max assured him, smiling once again. "Definitely."

"Socan we need an escort or what?" Krit asked only for Max to hear the phone being passed to someone else.

"_Look, just let the tunnel patrols know we're coming. I'll bring him in_," Jess told her.

"Fine. I'll deal with you later," Max said harshly.

"_What are you gonna do?_" Jess scoffed.

"You're grounded!" Max shot back, viciously hitting the red button.

**Sector Seven, Rendezvous Point, 7:05pm**

The next thing Jess heard was a steady beeping.

"She grounded me," Jess said incredulously, staring down at the phone. "She's _grounding_ me?"

Logan guffawed and Jess' vivid eyes slashed at him angrily.

"One word and you're crawling home," she threatened. Logan promptly sobered, stuffing his hands into his pockets as Jess turned her attention to Krit. "You, follow me."

"Where are we going?" he asked as she stalked straight past him, leading the way to the tunnel's entrance..

"The Witch's castle."

"Say what?"

"Never mind. Doesn't anyone around here read?"


	10. Wrong Number

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **Thanks for all the great reviews, guys! I love hearing from you. A reminder to unregistered reviewers – if you would like me to respond, please supply a valid e-mail address. Thanks so much. Enjoy!

**Chapter 10: Wrong Number**

**Sector Seven, Terminal City, Tunnel Entrance, 7:30pm**

The moment Krit and Jess emerged from the tunnel, Max jumped into her brother's waiting arms. Krit held her tightly, actually lifting her off the ground for a moment before he put her down.

"Maxie," he said simply, the warmth in his voice speaking volumes as he smiled down at his sister. She beamed up at him, ecstatic to have a member of her family around again.

"Welcome to Terminal City," she told him happily. "I'm glad you came."

"Good to see you, baby sister," Krit replied affectionately. He looked up, taking in the group of people spread out around them. One in particular caught his attention.

"Ben?"

Alec and Max both started shaking their heads at the same time.

"Wrong number, pal," Alec had informed him. "I'm Alec."

Krit looked rather crestfallen as he looked questioningly at Max. "Another clone?"

"He's 494," she told him softly as Alec held out a hand for Krit to shake.

In the meantime Jess' attention was captured by Boyd, who flashed a quick hand signal and a pair of handcuffs. With a sigh of resignation, she took advantage of Alec's momentary distraction and slipped past the other X5s to meet him halfway.

"Sorry, Jess," Boyd whispered as she held out her hands. "Boss's orders."

"It's okay," she replied softly with a sigh of resignation as he clipped the cuffs around her wrists. She hadn't expected anything less. Jess knew what was coming and she just wanted to get it over with.

At that moment, Alec glanced over to where Jess had been standing and noticed she was missing. He turned until he spotted her with Boyd and immediately observed the manacles on her wrists. Jess saw him move to intercede and quickly shook her head at him, mouthing the word 'no'.

"I ordered it," Max informed him when she realized why he was frowning.

"You're not serious," Alec said angrily.

"I'm dead serious," Max replied. "Boyd, take her to HQ."

"Hold it –"

"Alec, it's okay," Jess spoke up. "Let it go." With that, Jess glanced at Boyd and the X5 male escorted her to a beaten-up station wagon. Within a minute the car was making its way back to the command centre.

"Come on," Max said. "We'll figure this bitch out back at Headquarters."

**Sector Seven, Terminal City Headquarters, 7:45pm**

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Max snapped, her dark eyes blazing with undisguised fury at the blonde X5 sitting in a chair in front of her desk. She didn't appear at all concerned by her predicament, listening to Max's tirade with a distinctly uninterested expression on her face.

"How could you let her do this?" Max demanded as she rounded on Alec.

"Hey!" Jess snapped, effectively bringing Max's focus back to her. "You have a problem with me, so deal with me. Leave him out of it. He didn't have anything to do with it."

"Fine," Max said harshly, turning back to the blonde in question. "You knew the rules. You broke them and you've got thirty seconds to explain that to me."

Jess met Max's gaze without a shred of deference. "I was bored."

"You were bored?" Max echoed in angry disbelief. "You went after Logan because you were _bored_?"

"No, I left Terminal City because I was bored. I went after Logan because I don't trust him."

"He hasn't done anything to you –"

"He was going to sneak a stranger into Terminal City!" Jess argued, gesturing towards Krit, who was observing the scene quietly from his position against the wall. He was watching Jess closely, still trying to reconcile what he was seeing. The name 'Jess' just didn't seem to fit.

"_You_ were going to sneak into Terminal City!" Max snapped in frustration. "_After sneaking out!_ God, do you _ever_ follow orders?"

"When you give me on worth following, I'll consider it," Jess shot back, glaring at Max.

Alec watched the heated exchange in silence. He'd been waiting for the inevitable blow-out between Max and Jess for weeks. Thinking back on Jess' calm acceptance of her situation when she'd walked out of the tunnels, he wondered briefly if she'd intended to get caught all along. He wouldn't put it past her to take matters into her own hands… but she couldn't have anticipated Krit's arrival.

"Max, can I talk to you in my office?" Alec asked suddenly. When Max looked like she was going to refuse, Alec sent her a stern look. "Max, please."

"All right," she agreed grudgingly. The look she gave Jess should have killed her on the spot. "Don't move."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Jess replied calmly as Alec and Max withdrew to Alec's office, a couple of doors down the hall. He closed the door behind them, hoping no-one was eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Max, you have, let's say, twenty-two hours a day to kill, right?" he asked as he sat on the edge of his desk.

"On average," Max replied cautiously, not quite sure where he was going with this.

"Okay. Picture this for me. I confiscate your motorcycle, ban you from Headquarters, remove you from the active duty roster and bar you from leaving Terminal City. How do you see yourself reacting to that?"

Max's expression became glacial. She didn't say anything but Alec knew he'd made his point.

"I'm surprised Jess obeyed for as long as she did," he told her. "Grounding her isn't gonna work."

"Well, what do you suggest?" Max said impatiently.

"Put her back on active duty," Alec replied, taking Max by surprise.

"Alec, the idea is to punish her," Max reminded him.

"Why?" Alec asked in exasperation. "You've spent a month punishing her for something that wasn't really her fault. She tried to help Abby and it backfired. It could have happened to any one of us."

"You're saying anyone in her place would have shut down our entire computer system?" Max asked sharply.

"I would have," Alec replied simply. He let that sink in for a moment, saw Max thinking it over. "If you try to keep her locked up like this, she'll just pull a different stunt next time around."

"We can't just let her get away with this," Max told him.

"Okay, active duty and a sentence of community service," Alec suggested. "Let her work it off instead. Look what she did with the bar. She could start with that sorry excuse for a gym."

Max studied his face for a moment, turning the idea over in her mind. He knew she was weighing the idea up, trying to find a down side. He knew she'd be hard pressed to find one. Max was always saying Terminal City needed fixing up. If she could get Jess to do the work at no inconvenience to herself, so much the better.

"All right," Max decided. "Community service but I decide the term."

"Thank you," Alec replied with a nod.

"As for getting out of here, she has to have the express permission of myself, Brax or Mole."

"I get why you're not nominating me but why not Rand?" Alec asked.

"He's sleeping with her, isn't he?" Max replied. "Final offer. Take it or leave it."

"Deal," Alec agreed, figuring Krit had her in a relatively good mood and he'd better take advantage of it while he could. Given a few days, she might not have been so lenient.

"Okay," Max said simply. "Let's get it done."

With that, the two X5s returned to Max's office. Krit and Jess were still there, eyeing each other off warily. Jess' neutral expression didn't change a bit as Max sat down behind her desk.

"Listen up," Max told the blonde. "We're gonna compromise on this one but if you screw up again, I'm gonna personally kick your ass. You can leave TC only with permission from Brax, Mole or myself. You're back on active duty, so you'll be put on the roster on the condition that you also serve two-hundred hours of community service."

Jess' eyebrow rose slightly as she glanced over at Alec, who was standing beside Max.

"Fair enough," Jess acknowledged. "Anything else?"

"I'm keeping the motorcycle as a good behaviour bond," Max informed her. "If you earn it, you get it back."

"Okay," Jess agreed easily, her blue-green eyes meeting Max's darker ones.

"You're not gonna argue?" Max asked.

"No," Jess replied. "It's a good call."

Max looked up at Alec, as if to ask 'Is she for real?'

"So can I go now?" Jess asked. "I'm due to start work at the bar in a few hours. I should get cleaned up."

"Yeah, you can go," Max told her, leaning back in her chair.

"All right." With that, Jess simply slipped her hands out of the cuffs and tossed them to Max with a saucy wink. She strolled out the door, leaving Max staring after her. No one moved a muscle to stop her.

"Don't tell me she could have gotten out of those any time she wanted," Max said, turning to Alec. He just shrugged, Jess' earlier words coming to mind.

"Okay, I won't tell you."

**Sector Seven, Terminal City, Jess' Apartment, 8:30pm**

Alec didn't bother to knock on Jess' door. He simply walked in as he usually did, closing the door behind him. Jess was on the sofa, brushing out her pale gold hair, still damp from her shower. She looked up slowly, clearly expecting him to dish out yet another lecture about how irresponsible she'd been.

Alec didn't say anything. He just stood there with his arms folded across his chest, studying her with _that_ expression on his face.

"I know, I know," Jess said with a groan as she tossed the brush down onto the cushion. "I screwed up."

"We established that back at Headquarters," Alec replied calmly. "I just wanted to know if you're okay."

"That's not the first time I've been interrogated, Al, and it probably won't be the last," Jess told him flippantly.

"That's not what I meant," Alec said, moving to sit beside her on the worn sofa. "Though slipping the cuffs was a nice touch." He regarded her thoughtfully for a moment. "You thought he was Devon, didn't you?"

"He thought I was Eva, so we're even," Jess shrugged.

"Krit gave us the skinny on what happened out there. You never used to freak out like that," Alec observed.

"I did_ not_ freak out," she stated defensively. "I just overreacted a little."

Alec gave her a knowing look.

"Okay, I overreacted a lot," she amended grudgingly.

"Since when are you afraid of Devon, Jessie?" he asked softly.

"I'm not afraid of him," Jess insisted, getting to her feet. She didn't look at him as she spoke.

"Well, something spun you out. What the hell was it?" Alec's green-gold eyes sought out her blue-green ones. "Come on, Jessie. Tell me."

Her vivid eyes clouded, the momentary vulnerability he could see there giving him pause.

"I froze," she said simply. Alec wasn't sure he'd heard her right.

"You froze?"

"I thought he was Devon and I froze. I _never_ freeze." She sounded frustrated as she started slowly pacing the room, fidgeting restlessly.

"You're afraid they'll try to take you back to Quantico," he realized and she nodded. He got to his feet and stopped her pacing with a hand on her shoulder, using the other to lift her chin so she was looking up at him. "Jessie, if they want you they've gotta come through me," he told her, his gentle tone belying the steely determination in his hazel eyes.

"If that ever happens, you walk away," Jess told him sternly, her vivid eyes suddenly flashing fire.

"What?" Alec couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"You heard me, baby brother," Jess replied. "Promise me"

"I'm not promising that," Alec flatly refused. "That place scares you to death. No way."

"Alec –"

"I said no," he reiterated, digging his heels in. Jess let her breath out slowly, shaking her head even as her lips curved upwards slightly.

"When'd you get so stubborn?" she asked as she pushed her hair back behind her ear.

"Probably about the same time you did," he replied with a small shrug, then softened as her gaze dropped back onto the floor. "Come here," he said gently, pulling her into a hug. Her cheek rested against his shoulder as he held her, comforting her.

"Thanks," she whispered. Alec smiled slightly.

"Any time."

**Sector Seven, Terminal City, Max's Apartment, 8:30pm**

"You can crash here until we find you a place," Max said as she flipped on her light and led Krit into her home. "My couch is your couch."

Krit grinned at her. "Thanks, Maxie."

A part of Max thrilled every time he called her 'Maxie'. It had been her special nickname among her siblings. It was one thing to hear Alec call her that. It was quite another when Krit said it. Her brother. She'd been afraid she wouldn't see any of her siblings again.

She smiled up at him brightly but Krit suddenly seemed pensive.

"It's really you," he marvelled as he stripped off his black leather jacket.

"Of course it's me" Max said in amusement. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"You're joking, right?" Krit asked, his brows drawing together. "Deck told us you were dead, Max. Killed in action when we blew up the DNA lab. You and Zack." He hesitated for a moment. "Is he okay too?"

Max's smile faded, the memory of Zack's final rampage flashing through her mind. She opened her mouth to say something but found that nothing came out. Should she tell him that Zack was still alive? If she did, Krit would want to find him. Zack's only chance at a normal life would be shattered.

Krit misread the pained look on her face and his own hopeful expression died. "I guess that's a no," he said, more to himself than to her. "But I'm glad you're okay, Maxie."

"I'm glad you're okay too," she told him, irrationally relieved that he'd jumped in before she told him an outright lie. In some ways he was right. Zack _was_ dead. Adam Thompson was just your average Joe.

"When Logan told us you were alive, we were kinda scared that he was just messin' with us. Then he showed us the article that Calvin guy wrote in New World Weekly."

"Sketchy," Max said with a nod.

"You know him?" Krit asked.

"Yeah, I used to work with him at Jam Pony," she replied. "We give him the scoop on pretty much everything."

"You did good, baby sister," Krit told her affectionately. "Burnin' down Manticore, letting 'em out. You finished it."

"Seemed like the thing to do," Max said modestly, flicking her long hair back over her shoulder. "As for letting everyone out, there are days when I wonder."

"When people don't listen, you mean?" Krit asked. "Like Jess?"

"Yeah," Max said with a sigh. "People like Jess."

"Is she anything like Eva?" Krit asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

It was on the tip of Max's tongue to say no but she knew it would be a lie. In one respect Jess was so much like Eva it was almost scary – her fierce, unwavering loyalty to her family, namely Alec. Eva had died to protect her siblings and Max suspected that Jess wouldn't hesitate to do the same if it came down to a choice between her own life and Alec's.

"Sometimes," Max replied truthfully.

"And Alec?" Krit asked.

"He's nothing like Ben," Max said instantly, her stomach rebelling at the thought. Her misguided storyteller, her favourite brother… "Ben died too."

Sorrow touched Krit's dark eyes, so much like her own. "Manticore?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yeah," she whispered, hating herself even as she spoke the words. _I'm not lying_, she tried to tell herself. _Manticore made him a killer. He asked me to do it. He asked me_…

"So none of the others are here?" he asked, disappointment colouring his tone.

"I don't know where any of them are," Max told him sadly. "I was hoping you might know."

"Zack was pretty big on secrecy," Krit said with a shake of his head. "He tried to split me and Syl up after a while but we told him to go to hell."

"Where is Syl?" Max asked. "Why didn't she come with you?"

"I got a head start to check out the situation," Krit replied. "She's crashing at Logan's for the night. I'm gonna head over in the morning."

"I'm coming with you," Max told him.

"No argument. When do you finish your shift?" Krit asked, a curious smile lighting up his face.

"Six o'clock," Max replied, her own smile widening.

"Good. We've got another surprise for you."


	11. Complicated

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**Chapter 11: Complicated**

**Sector Seven, Terminal City, Haze Bar, 11pm**

Jess stood behind the bar, her fingers tapping out a quick rhythm on her hip as she took a mental inventory of her liquor and came up short by two rather expensive bottles.

"That frown has gotta go," a male voice told her. She looked up to find Rand leaning on the counter, a cheeky grin making his handsome face even more appealing. "Anything I can do?"

"Can you tell me what happened to those two bottles of Jack Daniels you got for me the other day?" Jess asked. "Cray doesn't know where they went."

"Sorry, baby," Rand replied. "I just supply it. I don't lojack it."

"Damn it," she muttered.

"Hey Jess, can I get a bourbon?" Boyd called out, getting the blonde's attention as he came to stand beside Rand.

"You got it," Jess replied, smoothly switching into bartender-mode. Rand waited patiently for her to trade the glass for the cash before he walked around behind the counter. She gave him a bemused look. "Aren't you on the wrong side of the line, handsome?"

"Can I talk to you for a second?" he asked. "In private."

"Sure," Jess agreed with a nod, then turned back towards the bar and her only employee. "Hey, Cray, can you cover for me?"

Cray gave Rand a measuring glance. "Are you planning on coming back?" she asked wryly.

"Strictly business, Cray," Rand replied, though he thought he might have seen a flicker of disappointment in Jess' blue-green eyes. "Cross my heart."

"You got it, Boss," Cray told them, aiming a playful salute in the blonde's direction. Jess grinned and took Rand's hand in hers, leading him out into what served as her office.

"So if you're not here for fun, what exactly do you want?" Jess asked shrewdly as she jumped up onto the desk and primly crossed one leg over the other.

"I've got a job for you," Rand told her as he came to stand directly in front of her, his thumbs hooked in his pockets.

"Really?" she asked as she reached out to run her fingers along the buttons of his shirt. "Is this part of Max's community service scheme?"

"No, it's a favour," he replied, reaching up to stop her hands from moving over his chest. "It's about Jett."

"Then shouldn't you be talking to Ember?" Jess asked as she took the hint and kept her hands to herself.

"Ember came to us for help and we all agreed that you'd be the best person for the job."

"Who's 'we' and where is this going?" Jess asked warily.

"Me, Brax, Shaine and Ember," he told her. "We need you to work on Jett."

"Excuse me? You wanna run that by me again?" Jess clearly thought he was delusional.

"Jett's freakin' over what Cain and his boys did to him," Rand replied. "He's getting worse, not better."

"Rand, I specialize in breaking people, not fixing them," Jess hissed in protest.

"We need someone who can get inside his head," he insisted.

"So why don't you get Sway to work her mojo on him?" she asked.

"Because he'd never go along with it," Rand informed her. "Come on, Jess, please."

Jess seemed to sense that she wasn't going to win this argument. "You're not gonna take no for an answer, are you?" she asked in defeat.

"Not a chance," he replied honestly.

"All right," she said finally. "I'll try but I've never tried to put someone back together before. I'm not making any promises."

"Thank you," Rand said sincerely and kissed her on the cheek. "I owe you one."

"Don't thank me yet," Jess warned him as she slid off the desk and led him back out into the main area of the bar where she resumed her duties with Cray.

"So I hear you had a pretty interesting day," he said slyly, talking even as she continued to serve the transgenics lining the bar, easily keeping track of the orders and her conversation with Rand at the same time.

"You heard that, huh?" Jess said, shaking her head ruefully. "I guess you could say that. Clones, cuffs…"

"Cuffs?" Rand gave her a questioning glance as she handed a glass of whisky to Abe.

"It turns out Max is into bondage," Jess said mischievously, one shoulder lifting and falling in a sexy little shrug as she reached up for another glass.

"There's an interesting visual," Rand replied with an appreciative chuckle.

"Enjoy your trip to fantasy land, tomcat," she teased in response.

"Oh, I will," he said smoothly, his eyes sliding over her slowly in a manner that should have made her blush. Instead she smiled slowly, enjoying the attention.

"You better be careful," she said a tantalisingly husky voice. "Don't you want to last longer than those cuffs did?"

"You got out of a pair of handcuffs?" Rand asked, his interest clearly piqued. "Hmm…"

"Hmm, what?" Jess asked, playing along.

"Kinda makes me wonder what else you can get out of," he replied wickedly. "Maybe I oughta tie you down, see what you can do."

Jess leaned forward over the bar so that her lips brushed his ear. "I'd like to see you try," she purred, her eyes sparkling with challenge as she drew back and sauntered her way towards the waiting customers.

Rand's burning blue eyes didn't leave her for the rest of the night.

**Sector Three, Sandeman's House, 8:30am**

"Anyone home?" Krit called out as he and Max opened the door and stepped inside.

"In here," Logan responded from a few rooms away. They heard he walking out to greet them and met him halfway.

"Hey," Max greeted him, her dark eyes lighting up as they rested on him.

"Hey yourself," Logan replied, sharing a moment of silent understanding with the untouchable love of his life. Krit tactfully kept walking into the next room.

"I'd kiss you but –"

"I know," Logan told her. "I know, Max."

Max smiled at him for moment.

"I'll give you three some privacy," Logan offered, walking away with one final glance at Max, whose grateful smile warmed him like nothing else. She walked into the next room to find Syl smiling up at Krit, who had his back to Max. Her sister immediately jumped to her feet.

"Hey, Maxie," Syl said, hugging her sister long and hard. "We missed you."

"Syl," Max said affectionately as she returned the embrace. "I missed you so much." When the sisters finally released each other, Krit finally turned around, gently jiggling a bundle in his arms.

Max's jaw dropped.

"Max, this is Briar," Syl said proudly, smiling down at the brown-eyed child Krit was holding.

"Oh my God, she's gorgeous," Max declared as she gently stroked the baby girl's downy black hair. "Whose is she?" Krit and Syl exchanged a puzzled look.

"She's mine, Max," Krit told her, stating what should have been obvious given the infant's darker colouring. Max's smile faded a little as she looked from Krit to Syl and back again.

"But… you're brother and sister," she protested lamely.

"Not genetically," Syl replied, her sister's unexpectedly negative reaction making her feel defensive. Sensing that she'd put her foot in her mouth, Max immediately back-pedalled.

"Syl, I didn't mean it like that," she said in an apologetic rush. "I'm sorry. I just had no idea you guys were, you know, _together_."

"Zack never said anything?" Syl asked. Max shook her head, afraid that Krit and Syl would be angry with her. The mention of Zack made Max's stomach drop into her toes. It had been pointed out to her on more than one occasion that Zack's feelings for her had been anything but fraternal. She hadn't wanted to deal with it then, and even now the idea made her uncomfortable.

"It's been a couple of years now," Krit informed Max. "We were hoping you'd be okay with this."

"No, it's great," Max assured them, smiling brightly even as she hoped they wouldn't see right through her. The pair exchanged another look but refrained from saying anything. The air was thick with tension.

"Logan's been great." Syl offered up a neutral topic. "We thought we'd lost you."

Max immediately softened.

"You thought after ten years I was gonna let that place take me down?" she asked with a cavalier grin. "No way."

About an hour later, Logan brought the group three mugs of steaming coffee.

"I'll be back in a second, guys," Max said and quickly followed Logan into the kitchen. He was waiting for her, leaning against the counter. She didn't keep her distance as she usually did. She stopped a few inches away from him, resisting the urge to throw her arms around him.

"I can't believe you brought them here," she said with a gentle smile.

"I wanted to do something special for you," Logan replied, gazing down into her liquid brown eyes. Max's smile widened as he lifted a gloved hand and cradled her cheek gently.

"Thankyou," she whispered.

"You're welcome," he replied tenderly.

**Sector Seven, Terminal City, Max's Apartment Building, 9am**

Alec looked a little more "biker" than usual in jeans, boots and his favourite black leather jacket as he pulled up in the alley beside Max's apartment building on his lime-green Bandit. He took off his dark sunglasses and, out of habit, scanned his surroundings quickly before he headed towards the stairs that led up to Max's humble abode.

The slight smile on his face had been there since he woke up and had stubbornly refused to go away. Shrugging it off as some weird endorphin kick, he'd gone about his usual morning routine – the shower, the shave et cetera – all the while wondering why he hadn't done anything to cheer Max up until now.

Fun and Max had been strangers for far too long. He knew that Cindy hated being separated from 'her boo' for long periods and he'd taken to calling the mocha-skinned woman every so often to let her know that Max was all right. Max didn't want Cindy to worry about her and so she tried to shield her from the worst of what life was throwing at them. While Alec respected the fact that Max wanted to protect Cindy, he also knew that Max's protective instincts were sometimes a little _too_ strong, especially where her friends and family were concerned.

Hell, she'd stuck out that pretty little neck of hers to help him on more than one occasion, even when she'd hated his guts. He figured he owed her a couple of stress-free hours at the very least.

Alec just strode through the door as he always did. "Max?"

No response. The apartment was completely silent. His transgenic eyes scanned the room for any trace of her.

"Max, are you ready to go?"

His brows drew together as he gingerly pushed open her bedroom door. The smile chose that moment to fade into nothing.

"Maxie?"

Still nothing. It didn't take Einstein to figure out that Max wasn't home. Feeling rather insulted, Alec wandered back into the living room, his handsome face marred by a scowl.

"Alec?" He turned at the sound of Kestrel's voice. The female was watching him from the hall with a rather curious look on her face. "You lookin' for Max?"

"What gave me away?" he asked with a sigh.

"She took off about an hour-and-a-half ago," Kestrel told him. "She was going over to Logan's with that other 09er. Kev or whatever his name is."

"Right," Alec said with a brisk nod, hoping he didn't sound as disappointed as he felt. "Okay, tell her I swung by."

"Sure," Kestrel replied and continued on her way without a second thought.

Alec let his breath out in a rush and ran a hand through his hair, feeling completely and utterly stupid as he stood in the middle of Max's living room. Of course she'd want to spend time with her brother, and she'd definitely want to thank Logan for bringing a member of her family back into the picture.

_Still_, he thought bitterly, _she could have called and cancelled_.

Alec had never been stood up in his life and he wasn't enjoying the experience one bit. She'd seemed happy enough to accept his invitation, especially after they'd finally gotten everything straightened out after her seizures passed.

With a final glance around the room, Alec walked out, dutifully closing the door behind him.


	12. The Shock of the New

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**Chapter 12: The Shock of the New**

**Sector Three, Sandeman's House, 10am**

"You're freakin', aren't you?" Krit asked carefully after Syl had left the room to change Briar's diaper. Max looked up at him from her chair, the disappointment in his voice hurting more than she wanted to admit. She'd been so happy when she'd arrived and she'd ruined the moment with her preconceptions about how he and Syl 'should' be.

"I'm sorry," she told him, looking over into a pair of dark eyes so like her own. "I just never expected anything like this. I'm so used to thinking of you guys as brother and sister."

"We did kinda spring it on you," Krit replied with a nod. "I probably should have told you last night."

"You don't have to explain, Krit," Max said, shaking her head at him. "Our unit's always been the royal family of dysfunction. Everything keeps shifting. It just takes getting used to."

"Speaking of dysfunction," Krit began, "what's going on with those twins? Alec and Jess?"

"That's a really long story," Max warned him, leaning back in her chair as she cast her mind back, letting the events of the past few months play through her mind.

"I've got time," Krit informed her, sitting down in the chair beside her. "I didn't even know Manticore cloned us."

"I found out about a year ago," Max told him. "It was pretty whacked out. I thought he was Ben at first."

"Alec?"

"Yeah," Max sighed. "The director, Renfro, assigned him as my breeding partner."

"Your _what_?" Krit squawked, goggling at her in surprise. The look on his face made Max smile.

"After we blew up the DNA lab, this bitch Renfro didn't want the Committee to know what had happened," Max explained. "So she started pairing the X5s off, hoping to get as many females pregnant as possible."

Krit screwed his face up in disgust and Max nodded.

"That's what I said," she told him mischievously. "Just before I kicked his ass across the room."

"That's our girl," he said appreciatively, beaming at her as the tension between them finally eased. "So how does he go from breeding stock to second-in-command?"

"I'm still trying to figure that one out," Max replied, rolling her eyes. "He kinda grows on you. Like warts."

Krit laughed out loud at that comment, the sound making Max smile. In all the years she'd known him, she didn't think she'd ever actually heard him laugh. There hadn't been much reason to before the escape and when they'd destroyed the DNA lab, he'd been all business. It was nice to see him happy.

That was the moment when it clicked for Max. He was happy with Syl and Briar.

No matter how far out of left field their relationship may have been, Krit and Syl had what she had been wanting with Logan for far too long. After all, two years ago Max had never expected to open up to the man behind Eyes Only. Her lips curved up into a wondering smile.

It was about time she relaxed with her family and had some fun.

Fun… Max's smile faded as the word jogged her memory.

_Alec!_

"Shit!" Max cursed under her breath as she jumped to her feet.

"Maxie?" Krit called after her. "What's wrong?"

"Just give me one minute," she told him, waving him back into his chair. She found Logan sitting at his computer, working on his next story.

"Can I borrow your cell phone?" she asked anxiously.

"Is everything all right?" Logan asked quickly as he handed the phone over.

"I just forgot about something," Max told him hurriedly. "I'll be right back." She didn't wait to see if he answered her. She made her way out into the backyard, dialling Alec's number as she walked.

She found herself tapping her foot impatiently as the phone rang. After what seemed like forever, she heard the tell-tale click and a familiar voice.

"_Yeah?_"

"Alec? It's Max."

**Sector Seven, Terminal City, Jess' Apartment, 10am**

The moderately loud music emanating from Jess' abode should really have been Alec's first clue that his timing needed work but his mind was on other things.

As usual, he let himself in. Jess never locked her door, knowing that he tended to drop by whenever the urge struck him, and she always had something tasty in her fridge if she didn't happen to be home. The girl had a knack for getting her hands on the weird and wonderful. He surveyed the living room and with a shrug moved towards the bedroom door.

He knocked quickly. "Jessie?"

He opened the door and stepped into the bedroom without a second thought only to stop dead as he realized what he'd walked in on. Then Jess caught sight of him over Rand's shoulder and gasped, her blue-green eyes widening in shock.

"Alec!"

"_What!_" Rand jerked up, his stupefied expression almost comical as Jess pushed him away so hard that he crashed onto the floor. She snatched up the bed-sheet, cheeks flaming, as Alec blurred back out the door and snapped it shut behind him. He let his breath out in a rush as the music cut out and sure enough Jess hurtled out the door, wrapped up in the sheet and looking furious.

"You're supposed to knock!" she told him, gesturing wildly toward the door.

"I did!" he replied, feeling horribly off-balance. He'd been stood up and walked in on his Jess having sex in the space of three hours.

Rand chose that moment to emerge wearing a pair of jeans and a sheepish expression.

"Hey, man," he said awkwardly, raising a hand in a small wave to Alec.

"Hey," Alec said neutrally, trying to erase the image that had just been burned into his mind. It was one thing to know about the benefits of Rand and Jess' friendship. It was another thing entirely to see it first-hand.

"I'll uh… see you later, Jess," Rand said as he headed toward the exit, his shirt and jacket in his hands. He closed the door behind him and Alec's gaze swung back to Jess. She squared her shoulders as best she could while still clasping the sheet about her body.

"Will you stop looking at me like that? You knew I wasn't the Virgin Mary," Jess said irritably.

"Jessie, there are a lot of things I wanted to see before I die but that was nowhere on the list," Alec told her, folding his arms across his chest.

They stood there for a minute in uncomfortable silence, looking anywhere but at each other until he realized Jess was shaking. He looked up and was surprised to find her struggling to suppress a fit of giggles.

"This isn't funny," he declared, knowing it was fruitless. Jess' eyes were alight with mirth and it finally became too much for her. She burst out laughing and a moment later Alec joined her, the funny side of the situation getting the better of both of them.

"I'm sorry, I just pictured the look on Rand's face when I yelled your name," Jess said, wiping away tears of laughter. "You think I damaged his ego?"

"Yeah," Alec agreed, helpless to stop himself from chuckling. "He's gonna make you pay for that one."

Jess picked up one of the cushions from her sofa and lobbed it at him. He caught if deftly and threw it back. It went over her head as she ducked out of the way. She let it fall to the floor and straightened, tossing her hair back over her shoulders with a playful smile.

"So why'd you come looking for me anyway?" she asked finally.

"I wanted to catch you before your first guard shift," he told her. "You know, wish you luck and everything."

"Liar. I thought you had plans with Max this morning," she said curiously.

"Yeah, they fell through with her brother in town," he explained.

"They fell through or she forgot?" Jess asked shrewdly. Alec grimaced and Jess rolled her eyes. "Typical."

"I seem to recall that I dropped everything when you showed up," Alec reminded her.

"Well, that's just because I rock," she asserted with a grin. "And because I would probably have ended up in a body bag if you hadn't bailed me out."

"That too," he conceded ruefully, hands in his jacket pockets.

"Okay, you raid the fridge while I have a shower," Jess told him, hitching the sheet up around her knees with dramatic flair so she could walk without tripping over. "I've got a city to guard."

Alec started laughing all over again as she bounded happily into the bathroom. Then the sound of his cell phone ringing caught his attention. He glanced at the caller ID and grimaced. Logan?

"Yeah?" he answered reluctantly.

"_Alec? It's Max_."

"Max? What's wrong? You sound worried."

"_I forgot about our thing this morning, didn't I?_" she asked with a guilty note in her voice. She actually sounded apologetic.

"Yeah, you did," Alec agreed. "Kestrel told me you bounced with Krit."

"_I would have called but_ –"

"That's usually the way forgetting works, Max," Alec said, irritation colouring his tone. "Don't worry about it. I'll see you when you get back."

With that, Alec snapped his phone shut and dedicated himself to studying the rather interesting contents of Jess' beaten-up refrigerator.

**Sector Seven, Terminal City Headquarters, 10:20am**

Rand found Brax in Alec's office, going over the newest security recommendations from the sewer patrols. Abe had been horrified that Jess had gotten past him.

"So you found Jett?" Rand asked. Brax looked up and quirked an eyebrow.

"Yeah, while you were off spanking Jess, I was doing all the heavy-lifting," Brax said with a touch of humour. "He was in the Advanced Recombinant Genetics building."

"You're not serious," Rand said, frowning at the very idea of Jett returning to the scene of his worst nightmare.

"I'm dead serious," Brax replied. "And he had friends – two bottles of Jack Daniels."

"So that's where they went," Rand muttered and Brax gave him a questioning look. He shook his head. "Nothing. Just don't tell Jess that part of the story. That stuff's hard to get."

"And I'm sure she thanked you for it," Brax deadpanned as he scanned the reports, watching his friend's reaction from the corner of his eye.

"What can I say?" Rand replied with a grin as he settled himself in a chair. "The girl's got good taste."

Brax chuckled. "In liquor, maybe," he teased.

"So when are you gonna come to your senses and return to bachelor-dom, huh?" Rand asked with a teasing grin. "Isn't Shaine sick of you yet?"

"Funniest thing. She seems to like keeping me around," Brax replied with a touch of humour.

"Damn, man. One woman for that long? I don't know how you do it," Rand marvelled, swinging the chair back onto its two hind legs as he braced his foot against Brax's desk.

"You know, one day you're gonna find a girl who makes you crazy and I'm just gonna laugh," Brax warned him, trying not to smile at the thought.

"Whatever, man," Rand said, shrugging it off. "Is Jett okay?"

"Not even close," Brax replied grimly. "Did Jess agree to help out?"

"Yeah but she's never tried to reverse the process," Rand told him. "She's gonna do what she can."

"I guess we can't ask more than that," Brax said thoughtfully. He took a deep breath and let it out in a rush. "How the hell did it get past us, Rand? How could we not know there was a problem?"

Blue eyes met brown and Rand shook his head.

"I don't know, pal," he replied. "I just don't know."


	13. Reaching Out

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**Chapter 13: Reaching Out**

**Sector Five, Jam Pony Xpress, 2:30pm**

Max walked into Jam Pony Xpress as if she'd never left, smiling slightly as all the old sights and sounds washed over her. For a moment she could pretend that the world – not to mention an annoyingly persistent breeding cult – wasn't out to get her and her freaky little family. She'd called Brax to let him know that she'd be checking on the safe-houses Kestrel had set up throughout the city for most of the afternoon but she hadn't been able to resist setting foot in her old stomping grounds.

Max quickly spotted the two X5s who'd been assigned to safeguard Normal and Sketchy. Slade and Quinn had volunteered for the duty and had quickly settled into their new roles. She knew that Normal appreciated the protective gesture. After the siege, the business had suffered because of Normal's pro-transgenic stance but it had been the attack that landed Sketchy in hospital that had prompted Max and Alec to actively guard their friends.

"Boo, it has been waaay too long since you came down to kick it with me," Cindy chided affectionately as she saw her favourite transgenic female. "What the hell has been keeping y'all so busy you can't find a minute for your sistah?"

"I'm sorry it's been so long," Max said as she wrapped her friend in a hug. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," OC replied warmly, then turned to call out to her boss. "Normal, I'm taking my lunch break!"

"I don't pay you people enough to buy lunch!" Normal shouted back as he strode across the floor and spotted Max. "Oh."

"Yeah. Oh," Cindy deadpanned.

"What's up, Normal?" Max greeted him, oddly pleased to see her irascible former employer.

"All right. Make it quick, Missy Miss. Bip bip bip!"

"So what's the word?" Cindy asked as she guided Max towards the lockers. "How's my girl holdin' up?"

"I'm holding," Max said with a sigh. "I'm just tired of waiting for the National Guard to drop a bunch of missiles on our asses or something. The only reason they haven't is because of the mob of protesters right outside the fence."

"I'm sure you and Alec can work this bitch out," Cindy assured her. "And if you can't, Original Cindy's got your back all the way."

Max smiled gratefully, her friend's presence soothing her like nothing else could but she still flinched slightly at the mention of her hazel-eyed partner-in-crime.

"What's wrong, boo?" Cindy asked, noting the way Max had shifted uncomfortably at the sound of Alec's name.

"Alec's angry at me," Max admitted. "I promised we'd meet up to blow off some steam and I flaked on him."

"So you've talked to him?" Cindy prompted.

"For about five seconds before he hung up on me," Max told her. "I haven't been back to TC yet."

"How long ago was that?" Cindy asked shrewdly.

"About four hours," Max told her. "I figure by now he's probably kickin' it with his bimbo of a sister anyway."

"His sister? You mean that girl who put the smackdown on the Vipers?"

"God, she drives me insane," Max said through clenched teeth. "I don't know what the hell he sees in her."

"Haven't met the girl, so I wouldn't know," Cindy replied. "What's she like?"

"Blonde," Max spat as if that explained everything. "She's just… so… God, I don't know."

"If Alec really cares about this girl, you gotta know there's a good reason why," Cindy pointed out. "Trust doesn't come easy to that boy."

"He's the only one who doesn't call her his sister," Max said, the notion irritating her for some reason.

"Just 'cause he doesn't say it doesn't mean it ain't true, boo," Cindy replied diplomatically.

"He chose her over Terminal City," Max groused. "He took a bullet on account o' her."

Cindy suppressed a small smile. She doubted Max was worried because Alec had chosen Jess over Terminal City. It was the fact that he'd disregarded Max's orders - or rather Max herself – in the process.

"If you're tellin' me that gettin' shot up is the only valid expression of love in this world, I'm gonna drive you to the psych ward myself," Cindy warned with a touch of humour. "So basically, you're sayin' that you don't like this new, female version o' Alec 'cause she gets too much attention from the ol' one." As usual, Cindy managed to sum up the entire situation rather neatly.

"God, that sounds petty," Max grumbled.

"It's pretty simple, girl," Cindy told her. "You're jealous."

"What?" Max said incredulously, her dark eyes wide. "I am _not_ jealous."

"Easy, boo, I just meant that you've been Alec's friend for a while now and all o' a sudden this freaky-ass twin o' your sister is makin' waves. You kinda feel like she's taking him away, don't you?"

Max sighed miserably. "That sounds really awful, doesn't it?"

"No, boo," Cindy assured her. "It sounds human."

"I'm sorry to just come in here and dump all this on you," Max said, looking over at her friend with sad brown eyes but Cindy waved away her concerns.

"Don't even go there, girl," Cindy told her. "Original Cindy is here to help." Then she brightened as a thought struck her. "Hey, why don't you bring your boy over to Crash tomorrow night? We'll get the old crew together. Sketchy and Herbal and everybody."

Max smiled at the idea. It had been way too long since she'd seen her old friends from Jam Pony and she knew Alec would love to catch up with everyone.

"Everybody?" Max asked. "Even Normal?"

"Even Normal," Cindy replied tolerantly. "One question, though – should we invite this sister o' Alec's or what?"

Max grimaced. "I don't know, OC…"

"Might be a good chance to find out what he sees in her," Cindy pointed out. "And whether we like her or not, Sketchy's guaranteed to keep her busy."

Max considered it. She knew she hadn't made much of an effort where Jess was concerned.

"I'll think about it," Max said, unwilling to commit herself.

"Aiight. You just get hot boy to show up and Original Cindy'll do the rest."

"You rock, OC," Max said, hugging her friend enthusiastically. "Thanks."

**Sector Seven, Terminal City, Haze Bar, 7:30pm**

Max walked into Haze and took in the mix of transgenics and transhumans that were relaxing there. She could see the amphibious Abe and his friends playing pool – a somewhat surreal scene, to say the least. It wasn't very crowded that night. People seemed to be drifting in and out.

She figured someone in here ought to know where Alec was. She'd already checked his apartment and the command centre. Pulling some cash out of her inside jacket pocket, she approached the bar.

Kneeling down behind the counter so that she was effectively out of sight, Jess was mopping up the last of some beer that had leaked from a faulty keg with a towel. She looked up and sniffed delicately, her eyes narrowing slightly at the scent. She popped up from behind the bar, startling the brunette who'd been trying to catch Cray's eye.

"What are you doing here?" Max asked. Jess gave her a quizzical look as she got to her feet.

"It's my bar. What are you doing here?" the blonde asked, dropping the damp towel onto the counter in front of her.

"You're supposed to be on guard duty," Max said, her tone just shy of accusing.

"My shift finished half an hour ago," Jess replied testily. "Now if you're finished insinuating that I don't take this seriously, I'll ask again. What are you doing here?"

"Buying a couple of beers," Max said finally, "and I'm looking for Alec."

"Well, as you can see, he's not around," Jess said, gesturing towards the crowd. "Drink here or take away?"

"Take away," Max told her. When Jess started to turn away, Max bit the bullet and asked a question she knew she'd probably regret. "Do you know where he is?"

"Why? So you can waste his time again?" Jess asked, sounding eminently reasonable. "You stood him up, Max. Most people consider that bad manners."

"For your information, I was going to see if I could make it up to him," Max huffed, her hackles rising quickly. She hated defending her actions to Jess.

Jess cocked her head slightly, her penetrating gaze fixed on Max's face. The brunette fidgeted slightly - she had the unnerving feeling that Jess could see a hell of a lot more than Max wanted her too.

"Come with me," Jess said as she picked up the beer-soaked towels, indicating the door that led to the back office and store-room for the bar. Max hesitated for a second before she followed the blonde's lead, knowing she could potentially waste hours searching Terminal City for him - especially if he didn't want to be found.

Jess closed the door behind them and promptly dropped the sopping towels into a bucket.

"How's your brother?" Jess asked, surprising Max.

"He's good," Max replied warily. "Why?"

"Relax, Max, it was just a question," Jess told her with a touch of a smile as she leaned back against her desk. "I think it's about time you and I laid it all out."

"Laid what all out?" Max asked, her perimeter defences immediately springing up.

"I mean we should just admit what the problem is and get it over with," Jess clarified patiently.

"Our problem is your attitude," Max declared.

"Our problem is that Alec actually gives a damn about someone other than you," Jess replied smoothly, meeting Max's gaze without a trace of deference. "More importantly, a female someone."

"That's not true –"

"Don't play games with me, Max," Jess said firmly. "It tends to be hazardous to your health."

"Is that a threat?" Max demanded heatedly.

"It's a warning," Jess told her. "I'm sick of this shit. I screwed up a month ago – I know that. I disobeyed orders last night – fine. Community service was a good call."

"Is there a point to this?" Max asked impatiently.

"I'm working towards suggesting a truce," Jess told her. "In or out?"

"A truce?" Max repeated sceptically.

"Yeah. You know, a ceasefire?" Jess expounded. "We stop bitching at each other every chance we get and spare Alec the frustration. You know as well as I do that he hates being stuck in the middle of this."

"I don't know about that," Max hedged, thinking back to the Marina and Little Sukie debacle at Jam Pony. "He used to like having girls fight over him."

"He always did like to rock the boat," Jess reminisced with a sudden smile. "Why do you think we called him Reb?"

"Reb?" Max echoed in surprise. "He had a name?"

"Sure. We all did," Jess replied, giving Max a curious look as the conversation took a completely unexpected turn. "He never told you that?"

Max shook her head and Jess grinned.

"It was short for Rebel," she told the brunette. "I like his new name, though. It suits him."

Unintentional though it may have been, the comment came across as a compliment to Max. Her lips curved up slightly though she didn't say anything. Nevertheless, Jess noticed and it didn't take more than a moment for her to fill in the blanks.

"_You_ called him 'Alec', didn't you?" Jess asked with a slow, mischievous smile.

"Yeah, I did," Max replied sheepishly as Jess let out a bark of laughter.

"Girl, that's perfect. I couldn't have done it better myself," Jess told her, beaming in approval. Though it was hesitant at first, Max found herself smiling back at Jess. Her humour seemed to be infectious.

"At the risk of sounding like I might not hate you, I suppose he could have done worse than you for a sister," Max grudgingly told her.

Jess regarded her thoughtfully for a long moment and Max shot her a puzzled glance.

"What?" she asked but Jess just shook her head.

"I was just thinkin' how different you are from Sam," Jess told her, her teeth tugging at her bottom lip.

Max couldn't think of a single thing to say in response. It was the last thing she'd expected to come out of the blonde's rather smart mouth. It must have shown on her face because Jess looked away, her gaze dropping to the floor.

"Sorry," she said softly. "It probably freaks you out to hear about us, huh?"

"It used to," Max admitted, surprising herself. "I didn't even know our unit had been twinned until I met Alec."

"I know you don't like that I look like Eva," Jess said suddenly, catching Max's startled gaze once again.

"I never said –" Max began but Jess held up a hand to forestall a denial.

"You didn't have to say it, Max," Jess told her, sounding resigned.

Max didn't reply.

"I'm right, aren't I?" Jess asked. After a moment's consideration, Max nodded.

"Is that who you see when you look at me?" Max wondered. "Sam?"

"No," Jess replied, softly but firmly. "Then again, I didn't watch Deck shoot her. I get that having me around probably brings back some really bad memories."

Max swallowed hard as the scene flashed through her mind. A nine year old girl with those same blue-green eyes holding a gun on the man they all feared.

"They taught us to hate you… the 09ers," Jess told her, her tone oddly flat. "When they first hauled us all into PsyOps, they didn't tell us what we'd done wrong. They just started taking us apart."

Max listened in silence, keenly aware that Jess was telling her something important – not only about herself but about Alec as well. Sam's angry rant echoed in the back of her mind.

_I bet you never once stopped to think about what they'd do to the rest of us_…

"You're not the only one with twin issues here, Max," Jess continued. She tapped the side of her head with her index finger and smiled ruefully. "They screwed us up pretty good."

Max nodded, letting that information sink in. She hadn't really thought of it from that angle before, that Alec and Jess might have felt weird around her because she had Sam's face.

"Why are you being nice to me?" Max asked, not entirely certain that Jess wouldn't revert to form at any given moment.

"News flash, Max. I'm really not _that_ bad," Jess pointed out with a good-natured smile.

"Mm," Max hedged. "Maybe. Sometimes. But let's just keep this between us, huh?"

"I guess you're right," Jess said, a teasing light in her eyes even as she appeared to mull it over. "We wouldn't want anyone to think TC's leading bitch brigade had gone soft, now would we?"

Max couldn't prevent a smile from spreading across her face as Jess laughed softly and pulled two cold bottles of beer out of the small bar fridge. She handed them to Max with a wink.

"He headed up to Parish and Beechwood again," Jess told her. "Now get outta here."

Max didn't argue but she paused at the door and looked back at Jess, who had returned to dealing with the beer-soaked towels.

_Come on. You know Alec would love it_, a small voice said coaxingly.

"Hey Jess," Max said softly. The blonde heard her and looked up. "A friend of mine's having a thing tomorrow night. Are you interested?"

"A thing?" Jess queried curiously.

"Some old friends. I'm asking Alec to go as well. It's at Crash," Max explained.

"Sure," Jess replied after a second and Max was gratified to realize that, for once, she'd taken Jess by surprise instead of the other way around.

With a single nod, Max strode out of the building without another word.

"I'll be damned…" Jess mused, smiling to herself. "This is gonna be interesting."

**Sector Seven, Terminal City, Corner of Parish and Beechwood, 7:45pm**

"Mind if I join you?" Max asked as she made her way across the roof of the abandoned building.

"It's a free world," Alec replied, not even looking up at guest.

"I'm sorry I spaced on you," she told him as she sat down beside him. "I'm usually better at keeping promises."

"You had more important things to do," he said, shrugging it off as she handed him a beer.

"You're still mad at me, aren't you?" she asked, sounding resigned to her fate. She drew her knees up to her chest and folded her arms across them, her dark eyes fixed on his face. "I really am sorry."

He didn't respond, instead choosing to pop the lid off his beer and take a sip. Max watched him, oddly fascinated by the way muscles in his neck moved as he swallowed. Alec sniffed slightly, the hairs on the back of his neck prickling as her eyes wandered over him.

"Why didn't you tell me you had a name before you met me?" Max asked suddenly. Alec glanced at her, caught off-guard by the question.

"Who told you that?" he wondered.

"Jess," Max replied. "She said your name was Reb."

Alec nodded, though the idea of Jess willingly divulging that kind of information – especially to Max - made his brows rise almost into his hairline. "Yeah, that was a long time ago. By the time you came on the scene, no-one had called me Reb in about three years."

"Why not?" Max prompted him.

"Jessie was long gone by then and Deck was pretty strict about using designations instead of names." He swallowed a mouthful of beer and sighed. "It didn't feel right."

"You really missed her, didn't you?" Max asked gently. It was the first time she'd willingly asked him anything about his history with Jess. The subject had been an unspoken taboo between them until that moment.

"Yeah, I did," he admitted.

"Did she always call you her baby brother?" Max asked, making him smile.

"Always," he replied. "Even though I'm a year older than her."

"But you don't call her your sister," Max observed, deciding to tackle the issue head on, and Alec suddenly looked a little bit uncomfortable.

"Self-preservation, I guess," he mused. "You can't lose a family you never had."

"It's a bit late for that, isn't it?" Max pointed out with a grin. "You couldn't get rid of her if you tried."

Alec chuckled at that, nodding in agreement.

"She's not all bad, Maxie. She'll drive you crazy but she's not all bad."

"Yeah," Max told him reluctantly. "I'm not saying I like her but…"

"I know what you mean," Alec said, smiling over at her, the familiar sparkle lighting up his green-gold eyes. He took another swig of his beer. "So, how's the family?"

"Growing," Max replied wryly. "I'm an aunt again."

"Krit and Syl?" Alec asked, quickly coming to the right conclusion.

"Yeah. They've got a baby girl – Briar."

"Hmm. That's nice," he said thoughtfully, watching her out of the corner of his eye. "You don't seem too thrilled about it."

"The whole brother-sister thing kinda threw me," Max confessed and Alec wisely held his peace. Considering how his previous observations about Zack's feelings for Max had been flatly rejected, he knew arguing with her wouldn't help the situation. He concentrated on his drink, letting her mull things over.

"They're coming back to Terminal City tomorrow morning," Max said, trying to engage him in conversation yet again. Usually she couldn't shut him up. It was ironic that now all she wanted was for him to say more than a sentence or two at a time.

"Good," he said, staring down the neck of his beer.

"You're gonna make me do all the talking, aren't you?" Max asked in defeat.

"Weren't you hoping to distract me into not being mad at you?" Alec supplied helpfully.

"Is it working?" Max asked hopefully.

"The jury's still out on that one" Alec told her.

"I said I was sorry," Max reminded him. "Come on, don't be a jerk. I didn't mean to space on you like that."

Alec gave her a measuring look. "Well," he mused, "you did buy me a drink."

Max smiled enchantingly. "I'll make it up to you," she offered, nudging his shoulder with hers. His lips quirked upwards and Max knew she was bringing him around.

"Yeah? How do you plan to do that?" he asked, clearly amused by the idea. Max's eyes twinkled.

"How about we go out tomorrow night?"

Alec blinked and shook his head slightly, as if to clear it. Was Max… flirting? With him?

_Okay. I've stepped into an alternate universe_, Alec thought as he swallowed another mouthful of beer.

"Tomorrow night?" he asked carefully. "What did you have in mind?"

"I stopped by Jam Pony earlier," she replied, smiling hopefully. "OC's having a get-together for us with the old crew after work. Are you interested?"

That clinched it. A night with Max and all his old friends was extremely appealing.

"I'll have to swap my shift," he mused, deliberately teasing her.

"Come on," Max cajoled. "I even invited Jess for you."

"Seriously?" Alec asked in disbelief. Max rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, smart ass," Max said ruefully. "I told you I was gonna make it up to you."

"Okay," he agreed with a grin. "Tomorrow night. Eight o'clock?"

"Eight o'clock," she confirmed. "The boys can handle TC for a couple of hours."


	14. Tension

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **Sorry it took so long to update guys. This one just didn't want to happen, mainly because its sole purpose is to bridge the gap to the next thing. Hope it's not too boring.

**Chapter 14: Tension**

**Sector Seven, Terminal City, Jett and Ember's Apartment, 9:30am**

"Hey, Red," Jess said with a smile when Ember opened her door with a wriggling child in her arms.

"Come on in," Ember urged her, stepping aside so Jess could enter the apartment. "Jett's not here."

"Yeah, I know. I wanted to talk to you," Jess told her. "I guess this must be Bo." She smiled down at the blue-eyed baby boy as Ember closed the door. "He has your eyes."

"Thanks," Ember said with a grin as Jess let him grab hold of her finger and wave it around. He gave Jess a gummy smile. "Hey, he likes you."

"Can't imagine why," Jess said with a slight shrug. "I'm not much of a baby person."

"That goes for most of TC's population," Ember pointed out. "I wasn't exactly mother-of-the-year material."

"Well, I hear differently," Jess told her warmly, her blue-green eyes still fixed on Bo. "By the look of things, you're doing better than most."

Ember couldn't help smiling a little at the compliment. "So I suppose you want to talk about Jett?"

"That's the idea," Jess said with a nod.

"Just tell me what you need," Ember agreed immediately.

"Mainly, all the details of what went down," Jess replied, "and how it got that far in the first place. All I know is that another X5 went psycho and targeted Jett."

"His name was Cain," Ember informed her, "and he was my breeding partner at Manticore."

One of Jess' eyebrows rose. "So he was Bo's father?"

"_Jett_ is Bo's father," Ember corrected her with a hint of anger, gently stroking her son's dark, downy hair. "That piece of trash was never anything but a sperm donor." She raked a hand through her red-gold hair. "This could take a while to explain."

Jess nodded. "I've got time."

**Sector Seven, Terminal City Headquarters, 10:30am**

"Come on, guys, even I have to check in when I'm going in or out," Max joked as she led her siblings and her brand new niece into the command centre with Dalton in tow.

Krit tensed slightly as they walked and Syl's eyes widened, her arms curling protectively around Briar, who was fast asleep with her head against her mother's shoulder. They took in the assortment of 'freaks' working throughout the building, trying not to stare at any of them.

"Well, look who it is," Mole greeted Max as they walked down the stairs into the main security area. He looked past her to scrutinise the two wary X5s standing with Dalton. "Still bringin' in strays?"

"You got it," Max replied warmly. "This is Krit and Syl, X5s 471 and 701." She turned around to motion the family closer. "Guys, this is Mole."

"09ers eh?" Mole asked as he puffed on his ever-present cigar. "Plus one."

Max smiled. "Yeah, Eve's got another playmate," she agreed. "Can you add them to the register for me?"

"I think I can manage it," Mole said gruffly even as Max grinned at him. He nodded to Krit and Syl. "Cute kid."

Krit smiled uneasily, his body poised to shield Syl and Briar if the need arose. Only then did Max realize that Krit and Syl had never seen anything like Mole before. She quickly turned to usher the trio out.

"See you later, Mole," she said, throwing him an apologetic glance. "Come on, guys."

She led them back out onto the street and turned a concerned gaze on her siblings. "Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah," Krit said rather flatly. "We're fine."

**Sector Seven, Terminal City, Rand's Apartment, 10:30am**

"Hey there," Jess greeted Rand, breezing through his front door as if she owned the place.

"Hey," Rand replied with a yawn, once again buttoning up a pair of hastily-donned jeans. "Listen, Jess, normally I'd be up for a drive-by but I just finished my shift two and a half hours ago."

Jess pouted sympathetically even as her eyes twinkled. "Aw, poor baby. Well, you can go right back to bed once you tell me where Jett is," she promised him.

"In the bathroom," Rand said, pointing her in the right direction. With that, he strode back into his bedroom and left Jess to her own devices. As he left, Jett poked his head around the door after hearing his name being mentioned, his hair wet from his shower.

"Hey, how're you doing?" Jess asked with a friendly smile.

Jett shrugged in response, his dark eyes watching her carefully. With the exception of Ember and the boys, he didn't really socialise that much so Jess' visit had caught him off-guard.

"Okay, so you're still not cleared for active duty, right?" she asked. When he nodded slowly, she continued. "I was hoping I could borrow you. I'm gonna fix up the gym and I hear you have a lot of time on your hands at the moment. You think you can help me out?"

He seemed reluctant so Jess clasped her hands together and did her best puppy-dog-eyes look.

"Please? Pretty please?" she asked sweetly. "I could really use a hand and I'll even shout you lunch."

He shifted his gaze towards Rand's room and Jess tried to guess what he was communicating to her to no avail. "Okay, I've got nothing. Jett, I can't read your mind like the guys can. Cut me a break here. At least use sign language or flash cards or something."

Jett seemed amused that she wasn't sure what he meant and his lips quirked.

"Don't you have a lot of other guys you could ask?" he clarified quietly. "Like Rand?"

"Sure, but they're all busy," Jess replied dismissively, "and I think Rand's tapped." Her eyes sparkled mischievously. "Poor guy. Besides, it'll give me a chance to figure out how you talk without talking. Seems like a handy skill."

Jett chuckled, enjoying the moment. He was rather pleased that someone was asking him for help instead of the other way around for a change. He was sick and tired of sitting around on his ass, waiting for the medics to clear him for active duty again – which they were certainly dragging their heels about doing.

He finally nodded his agreement and Jess grinned.

"Great! Okay, so can you meet me at Haze in an hour?" He nodded again. "Cool. Thanks!"

With that Jess bounded out of the apartment, leaving Jett shaking his head at her exuberance.

**Sector Seven, Terminal City, Krit and Syl's New Apartment, 11:30am**

"So what's the chain of command like here?" Krit asked as Max led them into the quarters she'd secured for them. "Apart from you and Alec."

"We have five commanding officers on rotation," Max replied. "Me, Alec, Mole and two X5 unit leaders, Brax and Rand."

"What exactly _is_ Mole?" Syl asked uncertainly. "We've never seen anything like him before."

"He's a DAC unit," Max explained. "Human and reptilian DNA. They're optimized for desert combat." Krit and Syl nodded but Max saw the wary look they exchanged and hastened to reassure them. "Hey, they're on our side. It's cool."

"We just had no idea Manticore made things like that," Syl said, wrinkling her nose in distaste. "Apart from the Nomlies." She shuddered at the memory and Krit grimaced a little. "We heard rumours but…"

Max's heart sank. It honestly hadn't occurred to her that Krit and Syl might need some time to adjust to the rather weird variety of creatures Manticore had created. She knew she should have anticipated it, remembering how startled she'd been when she'd first encountered Joshua. At nine years old, the X5s had not been aware of Manticore's other experiments and Max herself had remained in the dark until she'd been recaptured.

Max's gaze moved to Krit, who hadn't said anything when he'd crashed at her place the night before. Then again, Mole had been home with Eve and most of the transhuman techs had been off-duty at the time. He probably hadn't taken any notice, as freaked out as he was by the whole 'Eva's clone' scenario. He hadn't stopped staring at Jess the whole time they'd been in her office.

"Sorry, I guess I should have given you the heads up before I brought you here," Max admitted sheepishly. "I'm so used to how things are around here that I just didn't think about it."

"It's okay, Maxie," Syl assured her. "It's just a lot to take in. The transhumans, those clones of Ben and Eva that Krit was telling me about –"

"Alec and Jess," Max corrected them. "I think they felt a bit weird around us too sometimes." She decided it probably wasn't the best time to mention that she was taking Ben and Eva's twins to a party in Sector Five that night.

Krit decided to change the subject. "So who are Brax and Rand?"

"When we first started here it was just Alec and Mole helping me but we had an incident a month ago and the boys stepped up. We promoted them pretty quick after that. It gives us all enough time to have something that resembles a life."

"We heard about that on the news actually," Syl chimed in. "Some X5 went psycho on a bunch of guys at a bar, right?"

"Kinda," Max hedged. "A gang cornered Jess and she put a couple of them in hospital. Once the media got a hold of it, everything pretty much snowballed."

"That girl seems like a magnet for trouble," Krit observed..

"She's not so bad," Max surprised herself by saying. "She's just a bit full on."

"A bit?" Krit asked sceptically, thinking back to the effect the ferocious blonde had on Logan. Max rolled her eyes, her full lips quirking in amusement.

"All right, so she has about sixteen different personalities," Max admitted with a small shrug. "You get used to her. Eventually." She moved closer to Syl and gazed down the baby girl.

"Is she drooling on my shoulder again?" Syl joked softly.

"I think she looks like Case," Max said with a wistful smile.

"Who's Case?" Syl asked curiously. Max blinked, the question throwing her off-balance.

"Are you kidding?" she asked. When Krit and Syl continued to stare at her blankly, Max's smile faded. "You're not kidding."

"No, we're not," Krit agreed. "Who's Case?"

"He's Tinga's little boy," Max replied, looking back down at Briar. "His dad had to take him away to keep him safe after Tinga was captured. He was beautiful."

Syl swallowed hard, her gaze flying up to meet Krit's. Max watched in silence as he stepped up to Syl's side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer so that she was nestled beneath his chin with baby Briar between them.

Oddly, it reminded Max of the night Alec had comforted her after she'd told him about Ben. They'd stayed up all night just talking, completely losing track of time. She knew that was when Alec had finally developed his own identity in her mind.

Feeling uncomfortably like a third wheel, Max discreetly removed herself to another room.

**Sector Seven, Terminal City, An Empty Warehouse, 4pm**

"Thanks for helping me out with this," Jess said, her gratitude genuine. "I know it's not very glamorous."

Jett looked up and smiled slightly, even though she couldn't see it. He really didn't care that they both looked ridiculous in rubber gloves and face masks as they used industrial strength cleaner to scour the floor of what Jess had decided was the ideal location for a new gymnasium. They'd found a couple of old bristled brooms and had agreed that getting down on their hands and knees would take far too long. So they'd brought in a couple of buckets and started using the brooms as scrubbing brushes. They'd already been working for a couple of hours to get the place into a respectable condition. The musty smell had completely disappeared. However, it had been replaced by an almost overpowering 'hospital' smell that Jett didn't like at all.

"God, I don't think I'm gonna be able to smell anything for the next three days," Jess complained, pinching her nose through the face mask and making Jett grin in amusement. "Let's take five, huh?"

Jett didn't hesitate to take her up on her offer. If he didn't get some fresh air, he was concerned that he might not be able to smell anything again – ever.

They ended up just walking across the street into the old gym, which thankfully smelled normal as opposed to sickeningly sterile. Jett was making faces, vainly trying to clear his nostrils of the smell and Jess stifled laughter.

"It's a good thing I don't plan on ever having kids. I doubt I'd be able to after sniffing that stuff," she joked. Predictably, Jett didn't respond, so she tried again.

"I met Bo this morning," she offered, trying to feel him out. "I swung by your place when I was looking for you."

He finally looked over her and simply nodded.

"He's cute," she tried again. "I guess he gets his looks from his mom, huh?"

Jett's dark eyes were glued to the floor.

"Okay, so no baby talk," Jess decided. "Any idea when the medics are gonna let up on you?"

He shook his head, a flash of anger speaking for him.

"That sucks," Jess agreed. "Maybe you should try busting out of this place. It worked for me."

Jett finally looked at her, his expression clearly telling her that he didn't find that funny.

"It's just a joke, Jett. Lighten up." Jess sighed, the enormity of the task finally sinking in. It was one thing to psycho-analyse someone who was willing to speak to you. Getting inside the head of someone who appeared to be a voluntary mute was going to be a lot harder. She decided to switch tactics.

"How long has it been since you worked out?" Jess asked curiously. When Jett appeared to think it over, Jess rolled her eyes in mock disgust. "Okay, get your ass over here so I can kick it."

Jett let out a sigh of resignation and obeyed, sensing that arguing with Jess was probably as futile as arguing with her brother. He shed his shoes and his button-up shirt, leaving him in jeans and a white wife-beater, and strode onto the worn mat.

Jess had also stripped down to bare feet, jeans and a black singlet. She'd quickly woven her long creamy hair into a thick plait and was beginning a series of stretches. He wondered briefly why she even bothered. He'd seen Alec pull off some pretty crazy moves when his muscles were cold and he didn't doubt that Jess was capable of doing the same.

Jett followed her lead, stretching out as best he could but after a month of enforced rest his body wasn't co-operating as well as it used to. His muscles protested as he sank into the splits and leaned forward to touch his toes. He gritted his teeth in frustration. This used to be so easy…

Jess watched every movement, every reaction, out of the corner of her eye.

Once they were both warmed up, they began sparring and Jess' mind snapped into data-absorption-mode.

Even as she blocked his strikes and dealt several of her own, she was analysing and cataloguing how he responded. She observed the way his lips compressed into a grim line every time she landed a blow and how he missed a couple of very obvious chances to slip through her guard. As the match progressed, Jett was becoming steadily angrier at his inability to take her down.

Nonetheless, she was working harder than she had in weeks. When she sparred with Alec, they were on equal footing – both stealth models. Velocity models always presented a different sort of challenge, injured or not. It was one of the reasons she'd always hated fighting Keema in training.

_Damn, I'd forgotten how fast these guys are_, she thought with grudging admiration.

On the heels of that thought, Jess jumped as Jett tried to sweep her legs out from under her but he swung around faster than she anticipated. Jess found herself flat on her back, staring up at the ceiling. She exhaled in a rush and broke into a sheepish smile.

"Best out of three?"

**Sector Seven, Terminal City Limits, 8pm**

Several hours later, Jess arrived at the rendezvous point as agreed, still a little amazed that Max had actually given permission for her to leave Terminal City – even if it was just to get back on Alec's good side. For about the hundredth time since she'd gotten out of the shower, Jess sniffed experimentally. Her brain told her that she didn't stink of industrial strength cleanser but the odour was stuck in her nose nonetheless.

"Hey, Jessie," Alec greeted her warmly. He was already perched on the seat of his motorcycle, his arms draped across the handlebars as he waited for his dates. "You look good."

"Don't I always?" she asked, flashing a cheeky grin. Alec chuckled. She may have been joking but she was also right. Dressed in snug jeans, stiletto heels and a cream halter that set off her hair, she looked effortlessly gorgeous.

Jess smiled to herself when she heard Max walking towards them. She didn't turn around, choosing instead to watch the play of emotion across her brother's handsome face.

Alec seemed to tense slightly when Max approached but he grinned nonetheless and gave her a teasing once-over with his hazel eyes. She too had put some effort into her appearance though she was still going with the urban combat look – jeans, boots and leather jacket. Her one concession to femininity was the off-the-shoulder black top he'd always liked on her. Her long black hair was loose and his transgenic vision picked up just the tiniest hint of eye shadow and lip gloss.

Alec's trademark smirk settled into place and Max prayed she wasn't blushing under his scrutiny.

"So are we good to go?" Max asked, her dark eyes noting how good Alec looked as well. She'd always liked that black leather jacket on him.

"Ready when you are," Alec replied smoothly.

Meanwhile, Jess's calculating gaze swung from Max to Alec and back again. There it was again. That scent…

"Max, are you feeling okay?" Jess asked carefully, noting the slight flush in the brunette's cheeks. Alec gave Jess a questioning glance but she ignored him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Max said nonchalantly as she swung a leg over the seat of her motorcycle. "Why?"

"Nothing," Jess replied with a shrug though a suspicion was forming in her mind. If she was right, it was good that Max was leaving Terminal City now rather than later. She glanced over at Alec once again, who was idly rubbing the back of his neck to ease the tension.

_This is so gonna bite me in the ass_, Jess thought as she jumped onto the back of Alec's Bandit and wrapped her arms around his waist. As soon as Alec knew she was comfortable, he gunned the engine and they took off into the night with Max's Ninja right beside them.


	15. Playing With Fire

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N:** Sorry it took so long but I re-wrote this about six or seven times before I was happy with it. Thanks for all the fabulous reviews and welcome to all the new reviewers!

**Chapter 15: Playing With Fire**

**Sector Five, Crash Bar, 8:30pm**

With a sexy blonde on his left, an exotic brunette on his right and his trademark smirk firmly in place, Alec managed to make one hell of an entrance. Yet his attention wasn't focused on the friends he'd been so looking forward to seeing.

It was centred on Max.

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and licked her lips, her gaze wandering over him slowly. He was tempted to reach out and touch her. He might have if Jess hadn't reached out instead, pinching the skin of his arm hard enough to make him flinch.

"Ow!" he protested, glaring back at her. She glared right back, totally unrepentant and offering no explanations for her actions. She merely quirked an eyebrow and continued down the stairs, smoothly interposing herself between him and Max. On a purely instinctive level, he knew what Jess was doing and why. The human in Alec silently thanked her. The cat in Alec wanted to strangle her.

Jess saw the flash of anger in his eyes but chose to ignore it. She automatically scanned the room, searching out anything that might be considered a threat. It was a measure of Alec's distraction that he didn't see her stiffen momentarily.

Slade and Quinn were standing at the bar, enjoying a couple of drinks. Jess' blue-green eyes hardened. The two X5 males suddenly turned, like a pair of bloodhounds that had caught a scent. They unerringly fixed their eyes on Max, who still seemed oblivious to what was going on in her own body.

_Okay, we're in trouble_, Jess thought as they descended the stairs into the bar.

Two hormone-frenzied transgenics she could probably handle. The addition of two more males into the mix meant that she was playing some seriously deep odds. She glanced back at Alec, watching the way he prowled in Max's wake, his expression stormy as it rested on the brunette.

Alec had been rather disgusted that he hadn't picked up on it – consciously, at least – until they'd arrived. If anyone had told him that the mere half-hour ride to Crash would effectively triple the pulling-power of Max's pheromones, he wouldn't have believed them. At Manticore, the females had been kept on strict birth control medication which had suppressed their estrus cycles. When Renfro had first implemented her breeding program and stopped the birth control regime, the effect hadn't been immediate but it had been a terrible wake-up call.

Kestrel had been the first to go into heat and their not-so-beloved director had thrown her in a cell with Rand without delay. Neither of them had understood what was happening and the result had been very, very ugly.

Rand and Kestrel had never actually spoken of it but the guards hadn't been so circumspect. Alec wasn't sure how to categorize a breeding pair brutalising each other, lashing out in a desperate and futile attempt to stop the inevitable. The pair had been in the infirmary for several days afterwards.

Another X5 had called it rape to Rand's face – once and only once. In twenty-two years, Alec had never, _ever_ seen his friend lose it like that. By the time the guards had managed to taser Rand into unconsciousness, X5-308 had been unrecognisable. Rand had been thrown into solitary confinement – known as 'the hole' among Manticore alumni – for a solid month.

Renfro had oh-so-kindly given the X5s a briefing as an afterthought.

A ripple of movement over to his left caught Alec's attention. He glanced over at Slade and Quinn, his hackles rising instinctively. He would have moved towards them if Jess hadn't placed herself in his path, a restraining hand splayed against his chest.

"Easy," she cautioned him. Alec blinked down at her as she turned and shot his rivals a dark look and a crisp hand-signal.

_Stay_.

Slade and Quinn reluctantly obeyed and Alec couldn't honestly blame them. He'd seen that look in Jess' eyes on more than one occasion and knew that she wasn't kidding around. Like him, Jess was much more dangerous than she appeared to be.

"Get a grip, Al," Jess warned. "I don't want to have to beat your ass over this."

"Are you protecting my virtue?" he asked in amusement, his lips curving upwards at her.

"Virtue's a bit of a stretch but that's the general idea," Jess replied with a touch of humour. "Someone's gotta keep your ass in one piece."

"I really don't think Max wants to kick it, Jessie," Alec observed, shifting uncomfortably as an image of what Max most likely did want to do flashed through his mind. His pupils dilated and Jess took that as her cue. She reached up and clamped her thumb and forefinger onto his nose, blocking his breathing and effectively reclaiming his attention.

"Hey!" he yelped again, sounding ridiculously nasal. Jess giggled and released him.

"I'd say 'don't do anything I wouldn't do' but we both know how that would turn out," she joked. Alec couldn't help grinning at that one even though the situation was far from funny. She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "Look, just try not to go all feral on me, okay?"

"I'll do my best," Alec promised her. "Good enough?"

"Can't ask for more than that, I guess," Jess told him with a small shrug. Then her eyes sparkled mischievously. "Actually…" She seemed quite pleased with whatever idea had just struck her.

"I'm gonna hate this, aren't I?" Alec asked, watching her warily.

"Just picture me and Rand," she suggested. The words alone had the desired effect.

"_Jessie!_" he growled. "I was trying to repress that!"

"Desperate times," Jess replied simply, "call for desperate measures."

"Not that desperate," Alec grumbled as they turned and finally made their way towards the group that was welcoming Max with open arms.

"Alec!" Sketchy greeted him with a brief hug and Alec clapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, Sketch, what's up?" Alec asked with a grin. Sketchy's eyes shifted to Jess and widened with recognition. She winked at him, his reaction not lost on her.

"Everybody, this is my sister Jess," Alec called out, figuring it would be faster than introducing everyone individually. Jess blinked, startled by such a declaration. Max, who'd been hugging Original Cindy, smiled slightly at the look on the blonde's face.

"_That_'s Alec's sister?" Sky whispered to Sketchy as Alec greeted Herbal Thought.

"Uhuh," Sketchy replied, swallowing hard. "That's her."

Jess recovered her poise quickly, smiling widely at the group. Her eyes lighted on an African-American woman with fluffy black curls and strangely discerning chocolate eyes. She looked Jess up and down, as if taking her measure.

"Jessie, this is Original Cindy," Alec said affectionately. Jess summoned a glowing smile and held out a hand for Cindy to shake. She had the feeling that she was being tested as Cindy took her hand.

Cindy had seen the fleeting look of gratified surprise on Jess' face when Alec had called her his sister and that, more than anything Max or Alec might have said, inclined her to like the blonde. That acknowledgement had meant something to Jess.

"Good to meet you, sugah," Cindy said, her manner friendly. "Original Cindy's heard a lot about you."

"I'm sure you have," Jess replied with a sly look at Max, then smiled. "I'll try not to live up to the hype."

Cindy grinned. She liked Jess already. "What do you say to a pitcher o' beer?" she offered.

"I say that the first round's on me," Jess replied and the two women moved towards the bar counter.

In the meantime, Sketchy sidled up to Alec, his gaze fixed on Jess.

"Dude, is she single?" Sketchy asked quietly.

"Sketch, I really can't answer that one for you," Alec replied honestly, clapping his friend on the shoulder. "Why don't you ask her?" His gaze strayed back to Max, drawn like a magnet, and would have stayed there if Sketchy hadn't kept quizzing him.

"So, is she like, genetically-related, or what?"

"Nope," Alec said with a shrug, his patience running oddly low.

"You never mentioned a sister before."

"I also didn't mention that I was transgenic," Alec pointed out, then smirked. "Surprise!"

Sketchy noticed the restless way Alec was bouncing on the balls of his feet and gave him a strange look.

"Dude, are you nervous or somethin'?"

"No. Why do you ask?" Alec wondered.

"You seem kinda edgy to me," Sketchy observed.

"No, I'm good," Alec said, dismissingly his concern with a shrug as Jess and Cindy returned, a pitcher of beer in Cindy's hands.

"Hey, I remember you," Jess told Sketchy. "You took my photo last time I was here, right?"

"Right," Sketchy agreed, sounding delighted that she knew who he was.

"Jess!"

The blonde spun around at the sound of her name and found a young woman with long brown hair and vivid green eyes weaving her way towards her, bourbon in hand. Sketchy's eyes just about fell out of his head.

"Abby?" Jess grinned at the sight of the girl who'd gone to a hell of a lot of trouble to exonerate her a month before. No matter what Jess' chosen method of greeting might have been, Abby took the initiative and hugged her. Jess tensed for a moment, astonished, before she smiled slightly and relaxed.

"I was worried about you," Abby told her.

For the second time since she'd walked in the door, Jess was caught completely by surprise. No-one, except Alec, had ever been concerned for her welfare before – and this from a girl she'd only met twice.

"Guys, this is Abby," Jess introduced them, smoothly deflecting the focus from herself. "Abby, this is Original Cindy, my brother Alec and…?"

"Sketchy," Alec supplied quickly. "So you're the one who straightened everything out with the cops, huh?"

"Figured it was least I could do after she saved my ass," Abby replied. "Twice, no less."

"They were after me, not you, the second time around," Jess reminded her.

"Which wouldn't have happened if you hadn't jumped in the first time," Abby said, turning it around neatly. "So I still owe you one."

Jess couldn't fault Abby's logic and tactfully hid her smile behind her glass.

"So is Sketchy your real name?" Abby asked, her genuine interest immediately perking Sketchy up.

"Calvin Theodore," he said with a small measure of pride.

"Don't you write for New World Weekly?" Abby asked. Sketchy's smile widened.

Jess took their preoccupation as her cue to look around and locate Max. It didn't take long. She was making eyes at the bartender, who was taking it all in stride. After all, he probably got hit on all the time by pretty girls who wanted free drinks.

She sighed, resigned.

_This is going to be a very long night_.

**Two Hours Later**

"Whoa…" Sketchy breathed, sliding his sunglasses down his nose to stare at something behind Jess. Abby craned her neck to get a better look. Jess turned and her eyes narrowed, the only outward sign of her reaction.

Max, who'd been talking to Herbal Thought, was drawing the stunned stared of everyone in the bar. She'd pressed herself up against him, her hands wandering to places where they definitely shouldn't have been, and Herbal was trying to free himself to no avail.

_Where the hell did Cindy disappear to?_

Jess' gaze snapped over to Alec, who began to prowl towards Herbal with a lethal glint in his eyes. Before Sketchy and Abby knew what was happening, Jess was pulling them over towards her brother. Intercepting him, Jess jammed the heel of her stiletto into Alec's foot hard enough to make him stumble, muttering a string of profanities that made Sketchy's eyes widen. The look Alec threw her should have killed her on the spot. When he rounded on her angrily, she pointed her index finger at his nose as if she were scolding him.

"Ah! Me and Rand!" she said quickly. Alec stopped dead, fuming impotently as she turned and spotted Slade and Quinn stalking towards Max.

"Abby, can you watch him for a minute?" Jess asked, as if her twenty-two-year-old brother needed a babysitter. Abby murmured her assent as Jess quickly appropriated Sketchy once again, who was staring at the siblings in total bewilderment. "How about we go over and rescue him?" Jess asked sweetly, indicating Herbal. Without waiting for an answer, she looped her arm through Sketchy's and sailed across the floor to where Herbal was trying valiantly to extract himself from Max's grasp.

"I'll just be one second," Jess said, breaking off to stop Slade and Quinn. Alec was watching the two males, his green-gold eyes ablaze, from where he stood with his back to the wall with Abby at his side, trying to engage him in conversation. Sketchy arrived at Herbal's side, looking Max up and down with open curiosity.

"Uh… Max, are you feeling okay?" he asked as Herbal shot him a pleading look.

Jess grabbed a hold of both X5s by the collars of their shirts and tugged them down so their faces were inches from hers. Slade tried to pull away but Jess just tightened her grip.

"And where do we think we're going?" she asked, her eyes glacial despite the smile that curved her lips. "Get back to that bar and stay there, soldiers."

The sharp command worked where a threat might not have. Over two decades of military training had become ingrained and they responded to her orders but Jess was under no illusions that it would last long. If anyone else had tried something like that, the two men would have laid them out on the floor. So far only the fact that she was X5 – and female - was protecting her. Thankfully, most of the messengers had focused their attention on Max.

As Slade and Quinn slunk back to the bar, glaring daggers at each other, Jess took a deep breath and returned to the cause of all the trouble.

"Hey, Max, could I talk to you for a second?" Jess interjected with a sunny smile. Herbal and Sketchy looked up in profound relief as the blonde peeled Max off them as quickly as possible, leaving the two men to speculate as to what on earth was going on. Jess' hand clamped around the protesting Max's upper arm and her open palm connected with Max's cheek with a resounding _thwack_.

Max stopped, stunned. So did everyone else in the bar. She'd been punched, kicked and shot but she'd never actually been slapped. Then Jess hauled her away from the main crowd.

"Let go of me!" Max hissed angrily, pulling against Jess' grip.

"Not until you listen," Jess whispered harshly. "Think about what you're doing. _You're in heat, damn it_!"

Max paled as Jess' words hit home.

"This is _not_ the time or place," Jess continued softly. "Get a hold of yourself. You can scratch your itch later."

"Are you kidding me?" Max whispered, her tone tinged with both anger and horror. "I'm not scratching anything! Not everyone's as –" Max stopped abruptly, shooting Jess a furtive look. Jess folded her arms across her chest, one eyebrow rising questioningly.

"Not everyone's as what? As easy as I am?"

The insult, true thought it may have been, stung but she chose to let it slide. Max was clearly upset, lashing out, and she was starting to draw attention. Jess towed her further away from the main group.

"How can you be such a prude about a natural biological function?" Jess asked, genuinely bewildered by Max's reaction to her condition.

Max stared at her, aghast. "You call _this_ a natural biological function?"

Every other transgenic female Jess knew simply accepted the situation, chose a mate for the duration and got on with their lives. She honestly didn't understand why Max was acting like an outraged Victorian virgin. Well, except for the fact that she did still technically have a not-like-that boyfriend.

Which was part of the reason Jess couldn't let anything happen between Max and Alec tonight. Things were still too complicated for it to have even the slightest chance of ending well.

"Max, just take a deep breath and calm down," Jess advised her. "People are staring."

Conscious that she was becoming the focus of attention she didn't want, Max made an effort to get her temper under control.

"Don't let me do anything stupid," Max pleaded, meeting Jess' eyes, completely unaware of the enormity of what she was asking. She'd never gone into heat in the vicinity of her own kind and while she'd heard about the effects of estrus on transgenic males, she'd never actually seen it.

Jess, on the other hand, was counting on Max's will being stronger than her sex drive. If things got out of hand, three X5s would be easier to handle than four. Not much easier, but easier nonetheless.

For a moment, Max chewed her lip and debated whether or not to tell Cindy. Her friend had thrown this party especially for her and Alec. Max didn't want to be the one to ruin it. The apprehension in Max's doe-brown eyes made Jess soften. She touched Max's arm.

"If I say we're leaving, you don't argue. Deal?"

"Deal," Max agreed instantly. Jess breathed a small sigh of relief.

"I'm gonna have a talk with the boys," Jess informed her quietly, indicating Slade and Quinn. "Stay out of trouble." The irony of Jess saying such a thing to Max rather than the other way around wasn't lost on either female.

Max was relieved when Cindy appeared at her elbow and offered her a beer – anything that could help her cool down was definitely a good thing. She stared down at the amber liquid, determined to not stare at the men – both transgenic and ordinary – milling around.

"She doesn't seem too bad," Cindy said casually as she watched Jess walk across the room. "Easy on the eyes, that's for damn sure."

"I guess," Max said absently, her eyes irresistibly drawn to Slade and Quinn, who were directly in her line of sight. They returned her gaze appreciatively. Suddenly realizing what she was doing, Max became very absorbed in the contents of her beer glass once again. Cindy regarded her thoughtfully.

"You okay, boo?"

"I'm fine," Max said, trying to sound casual. "Just keyed up, I guess. You know, with Krit and Syl getting back, everything's been pretty full-on."

"I hear you," Cindy said, taking a sip of her beer though she didn't sound convinced.

Slade and Quinn were about to move toward Max when Jess planted herself firmly between them and the heated X5 female, hands on her hips.

"I've given you two warnings," she reminded them. "Three's all you're gonna get."

Slade's lip curled and he moved to brush past her but Jess' arm snapped out, shoving him back against the bar hard enough to make him think twice. She turned her gaze on his companion. The last time she'd thrown down with Quinn, he'd come out of it with a concussion but she didn't doubt that he'd learned from the experience. Quinn was a combat model while Slade was a velocity. She really didn't want to fight them if she could possibly avoid it.

"Don't even think about it," she told them coldly.

Only Max, Cindy and a bunch of random bystanders had seen Jess shove Slade back against the bar counter. Cindy frowned.

"Can you hear what's goin' on over there?" she asked Max, who shook her head a little too quickly. The whole situation was surreal.

"I wasn't listening," she replied, fidgeting as she looked anywhere but at Cindy, who was no fool when it came to her best friend. Alec caught her eye and the edges of his mouth curved slightly, the look in his eyes anything but innocent.

"Max, look at me," Cindy said sternly. Max obeyed, her eyes wide.

"What?" she asked, her leg jiggling restlessly.

"Girl, you better tell Original Cindy what the hell is goin' on," Cindy pressed her. "You're wound way too tight, boo." Max knew what would happen if she told Cindy what was the deal really was. Her friend would insist that the party was over and her night would be ruined.

She sensed him before she saw him. His scent, usually clean and crisp, was loaded with testosterone. She breathed it in, suddenly feeling more feverish than ever. She swallowed hard.

"Hey, Maxie, are you up for a game of pool?"

Alec grinned mischievously at her. To anyone else who may have been listening, it sounded like a simple enough request but there was something in the way his green-gold eyes glittered that made Max's pulse race.

"Sure," she replied, not trusting herself to say anything else. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a shred of rationality argued that this was _Alec_.

_Stop it! It's the heat talking!_

Only Logan was supposed to make her tingle. Except that he never had. Well, maybe butterflies in the stomach once or twice…The urge to throw herself at him almost overwhelmed her.

Max ruthlessly pushed those unwelcome thoughts aside, smiled weakly at Cindy and took the cue that Alec handed her. He moved around behind her, so close she could feel his body heat, and inhaled slowly, deeply. Max had the unnerving sensation that he was tasting her even as he whispered into her ear.

"Do you want to break or should I?"

"What?" It was a perfectly logical question yet Max hadn't registered what he'd said, listening instead to the rumble of his voice. His lips quirked in amusement and she shook it off. "Oh. Yeah, I'll break."

Max leaned over the table and lined up her shot, effortlessly sinking three balls on the first try.

Jess forced herself to smile and relax into watching the game.

Max sunk ball after ball, leaving Alec standing on the sidelines with nothing to do. However, Jess tensed slightly when Alec sauntered over to Max's side. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Slade and Quinn bristling – not only at Alec's proximity to Max but at each other.

_Okay. Enough's enough_, Jess decided. If they stayed any longer, she knew the situation would explode. She scanned the group and quickly located Cindy. She figured Max's best friend would probably be more clued-in than anyone else present. Cindy saw her coming and gave her a friendly smile.

Jess didn't bother with pleasantries. She didn't have time.

"How much do you know about transgenic females?" Jess asked in a hushed tone. Cindy caught on quickly, her eyes widening slightly as comprehension dawned.

"Are you tellin' me that estrus bitch is back?" Cindy asked. She glanced around at Alec in alarm. "Why didn't she tell me?" Max's behaviour suddenly made sense.

Max was lining up her next shot when Alec reached out and stroked his thumb across her barcode. Max jumped and missed the shot, the white ball bouncing off the side of the table as she spun around to face him. Her breathing sped up to match her heart rate. She felt the pit of her stomach knot up in anticipation.

Eyes wide, she chanted in her mind. _It's the heat. It's the heat, itstheheatitstheheatitstheheat_…

Alec watched as Max's tongue flicked out to moisten her lips, the gesture only heightening the tension that had been growing steadily stronger since they'd arrived.

"They can smell her," Jess warned, her eyes fastened on the increasingly-aggressive X5 males by the bar.

"Can you do something?" Cindy asked quietly.

"They're reacting to Max's pheromones," Jess explained softly, "and producing their own. It intensifies the effect, makes it harder to fight."

"How much harder?" Cindy asked in consternation and Jess met her gaze unwaveringly.

"It's like blood in the water," Jess replied honestly, then looked up to where Slade and Quinn were eyeing Max with a distinctly predatory gleam in their eyes as they began to approach her once again. "The sharks are circling."

"I've gotta get my girl outta here," Cindy decided but when she would have moved to intercede, Jess reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her back.

"You'd better let me," Jess advised. "You've never seen a mate fight. It's not pretty."

"A mate fight?" Cindy whispered incredulously, her eyes widening. "Serious?"

"_Dead_ serious," Jess said grimly as she looked around at the crowd of bike messengers and bar patrons. She caught Abby's eye and waved her over.

"Okay, you and Abby move as many people as you can into the back room," Jess told her. "I don't want anybody in the line of fire. Can you handle that?"

"Original Cindy can hold her own."

"What's going on?" Abby asked quietly, picking up on the tension in Jess' stance.

At that moment, chaos erupted. Every eye in the bar turned to goggle at Slade and Quinn. The two X5s were exchanging punches, growling and snarling like animals.

"Hey, take it outside!" the bartender, Hummer, shouted angrily. When the two X5s ignored him, he stepped out from behind the bar, intent on removing them. Jess moved to stop him, shoving her way through the crowd. Neither Slade nor Quinn would hesitate to kill him. The feline had well-and-truly overridden the human.

"No, don't!" Jess cried.

Too late.

Hummer grabbed Slade by the arm, immediately turning both males' attention on him. Typically, the velocity model reacted first, his hand clamping around Hummer's throat. The bartender's eyes widened in fear.

Jess' fingers curled around Slade's wrist and she tried to pry his hands off the terrified human.

"Slade, let him go!" she ordered, raising her voice to be heard above the panicked audience. "_Slade!_"

Several others crowded around, trying to help her stop him despite Cindy and Abby's attempts to prevent them. They didn't realize they were making things worse until Quinn snatched Herbal by the collar, lifting him up off the ground with a snarl.

Taking matters into her own hands, Jess gave up trying to loosen Slade's grip. Hummer was turning purple. Her elbow slammed into the X5's throat and he staggered backwards. Hummer crumpled onto the floor, coughing and sputtering as Jess spun around and kicked out, stabbing the heel of her shoe into the back of Quinn's knee. His leg went out from under him as he dropped Herbal. In that split-second Jess looked back towards her brother and Max.

Her eyes widened.

"Alec!" Jess shouted without thinking, attracting the attention of several messengers, who turned to see what was going on. They immediately grabbed hold of their friends, pulling them around to see the show.

Jam Pony's collective jaw dropped.

Alec had Max laid out on the pool table, her legs wrapped around his slim hips, his mouth locked to hers as his hands worked their way under her shirt. She was mewling beneath him, trying to wriggle closer, as if she could work her way under his skin.

Jess was suddenly faced with a choice. Separate Max and Alec or separate Slade and Quinn. Neither task was going to be easy. Whatever she did, time was of the essence.

"Get everyone out!" Jess snapped, finding Cindy and Abby in the crowd.

_Sorry, baby brother. This is for your own good_.

Jess blurred and cleared the pool table in a single leap. His attention focused on the female in his grasp, Alec was caught completely off-guard. Jess grabbed his shoulder, yanked him upwards off Max and punched him, her fist slamming into his jaw with enough force to send him reeling back into the wall. Jess grabbed Max by the wrist and forcibly dragged her off the pool table. Max immediately fought back, her anger and hormones clouding her judgement. Blocking her strikes, Jess twisted her elbow up behind her back with one hand and gripped the back of her neck with the other.

"Max, we had a deal!" Jess tried reasoning with her one final time. "We've gotta go!"

Max tried to wrench herself out of Jess' grip, a mutinous glint in her dark eyes, but it was Alec's low growl close to Jess' ear that made both women tense for entirely different reasons.

"She's not going anywhere."


	16. Gasoline

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: IMPORTANT!** **IF YOU ARE UNDER THE AGE OF 17, DO NOT READ THIS CHAPTER!** **IT CONTAINS SEXUAL VIOLENCE/RAPE WHICH MAY BE OFFENSIVE TO SOME READERS.**

**Please don't say I didn't warn you, especially after revealing the info about Rand and Kestrel. I've always maintained that mate fights are ugly affairs.**

I would also like to apologize for taking so long to update. It was never my intention. Thanks to all those reviewers who lit a fire under my butt. Thanks also to my friend Sarah G, who wrote an amazing piece of music which accounts for a good deal of this chapter getting written. This was a very difficult, draining chapter. Forgive me?

**Chapter 16: Gasoline**

**Sector Five, Crash Bar**

Jess could feel Alec's warm breath against her ear. She went completely still, her grip on Max tightening convulsively as Cindy and Abby tried to chase the bar patrons towards the exits.

Jess admitted freely to being a selfish bitch. She badly wanted to walk away from this one. The three males would tear each other and Max apart. Ordinarily she wouldn't have cared – except that one of those males was Alec.

_Don't let me do anything stupid_… Max's plea flashed through her mind. Jess' lips set in a grim line.

Jess slowly looked back over her shoulder. _No sudden movements_, she thought warily.

"Alec?" she said softly, deliberately keeping her voice pitched low. He didn't even look at her, his green-gold eyes fixed on Max, who was still struggling against Jess' grip. The blonde took a slow, deep breath. "Alec, listen to me."

"Let. Her. Go."

Jess had never heard him use such a cold tone of voice with her. She swallowed hard.

_Fuck_… Jess knew she wasn't going to get out of this one unscathed. Running was no longer an option, not now that she'd interfered. She had to take at least one of them down and she had to do it fast. So now she faced a choice. The combat, the velocity or the stealth?

The choice was taken away from her when, despite the roar of the crowd, she heard the unmistakable click of a gun being cocked. In hindsight, she should have known that Slade and Quinn would be armed. She knew that they could blow her head off right there and then. Alec probably wouldn't even blink.

Time seemed to slow down as Jess turned again, her eyes widening in alarm as she realised that Slade wasn't pointing the pistol at her as he approached. He was aiming for Alec's head and his finger was squeezing the trigger.

"NO!"

Jess reacted instinctively, throwing Max away from her and launching herself at Alec as the weapon fired over and over again. The sudden screams of the crowd faded as she knocked Alec off his feet, shielding him with her body. She felt one bullet tear its way through her shoulder and another through her thigh.

"_Jess!_" The blonde was vaguely aware of Abby's scream as she tried to pin her brother down, heedless of the blood spreading over her arm and down her leg. Only Max's interference stopped Slade from emptying the entire clip – momentarily startled out of her heat-induced haze, she was struggling to disarm him and keep Quinn at bay.

The next thing Jess knew, Alec's hand had wrapped itself around her throat and he hauled her to her feet with a snarl, not noticing or caring that the girl he was choking had just saved his life.

"Alec…" Jess croaked, lashing out with a blow to the side of the head. He dropped her, shaking his head with a growl as Jess staggered and dragged in a breath, the harsh reality sinking in.

_I am in serious trouble_, she suddenly realised, especially now that she was wounded. Her shoulder and thigh felt like they were on fire. The bar had emptied in something akin to a stampede, leaving the transgenics alone. She glanced over at Max, whose proximity to a male was beginning to override her conscious mind. Slade actually let the pistol clatter onto the floor as he pulled the brunette closer. Only then did Jess notice that Quinn was only just picking himself up off the floor several feet away. Slade had clearly won the first round.

Then Alec looked up and caught sight of Slade with his hands on a very-willing Max. His lip curled up into a snarl and he began to move towards the pair, radiating menace.

Jess settled for the only weapon in reach. She grabbed the nearest barstool and swung it at her brother, breaking it across his back and driving him back onto his knees.

_Okay. That had to hurt_, she conceded. Grimly, Jess limped around to stand between him and his goal, some part of her still railing against the idea of fighting Alec, of all people.

"Don't make me do this, baby brother," she pleaded. "You know you're gonna have to go through me."

The moment the challenge was out of her mouth, Jess cursed her own stupidity. He took her at her word, lashing out with a series of kicks and punches that Jess struggled to block. Her leg wasn't co-operating and she couldn't move fast enough to defend herself.

She finally landed a right cross only to find her wrist locked in Alec's grip. His other hand grabbed her shoulder, his fingers digging cruelly into the bullet wound. Jess ground her teeth, determined that he wouldn't have the satisfaction of hearing her cry out, and reached up to prise his fingers out of her flesh.

Sadly, when it came to brute strength, Alec had the advantage.

Alec switched tactics. He hurled Jess over the bar counter with all the force he could muster before jumping over it to make sure she stayed down.

Jess crashed into the multicoloured shelves and onto the floor in a shower of broken glass, her teeth sinking into her lower lip to suppress a scream as Alec's weight crushed her, knocking the wind out of her and driving shards of glass into the flesh of her back. His elbow connected with Jess' cheekbone, driving her head into the floor and stars exploded behind her eyes. A heartbeat later Alec was gone, leaving Jess lying there like garbage, bleeding onto the tiles, her head spinning crazily from the sheer force of the blow.

Alec landed like a cat, his green-gold eyes blazing as he advanced on the X5 who had Max backed up against the wall, his hands working at the button fly of her jeans. Quinn was getting back onto his feet after being pounded into the wall by his rival yet again.

_No! Not him!_ Max protested in horror even as her body responded to Slade's touch.

Somewhere in the back of Alec's mind, the last shred of humanity was pleading with the animal to stop as he let out a bestial snarl and grabbed Slade by the collar of his jacket and bodily threw him away from Max. He knew it was insane but one look at Max's liquid brown eyes robbed him of any thoughts that didn't revolve around her.

Alec gazed down at her with eyes that were more gold than green and unnerving in their intensity, a low rumble in his throat sending a shiver down her spine. Max saw his nostrils flare as he inhaled the pheromone-laden air. Then he was kissing her and all Max could think about was getting him naked.

Neither of them paid the least bit of attention to the bottle of whisky that hurtled through the air and shattered across the back of Quinn's head, turning his rival back to the task of trying to hold Slade at bay when he would have challenged Alec's claim.

Max's lips seized his, caressing and tasting with abandon. Everything was forgotten in the rush as she shoved his jacket back off his shoulders and he let it slide onto the floor, his arms immediately wrapping around her, bringing her flush up against him. Their body heat burned through their clothes even as Alec's hands moved lower and lifted her up. Her legs locked around his hips as his lips slid down her throat.

She was vaguely aware of Alec carrying her towards the exit, one hand tangling in her long hair as he held her weight effortlessly with the other. She broke away from him only long enough to peel her shirt off and toss it aside. She didn't even notice the cool night air on her skin. All she cared about was Alec and the unbearable fever in her blood.

Somehow she'd always known he'd be good at this. It wasn't something she'd ever consciously acknowledged. She'd steadfastly refused to think of him in any kind of a sexual way, trying to categorize him as 'safe' – a brother, a friend, an ally. Never a lover – until she'd busted into his bathroom and seen how perfect Manticore had really made him. Sleek muscles, tanned skin and those wicked, wicked green-gold eyes…

The image had danced its way through her mind more often than she would ever admit.

Her hands tugged at his shirt, forcing him to put her down as she pulled it over his head. The moment it was out of his way, he had her backed up against the brick wall, his mouth devouring hers once again as her fingers worked at his jeans.

Max had always tried to fight that side of her nature. The cat wanted to be completely wild and out of control. The cat wanted to just let go and to hell with the consequences. The cat wanted to rake her claws down his back and let him take her right there in the alley.

Alec stripped her so fast that it left her head spinning and she writhed against him, gasping as his lips moved hungrily over the skin of her throat and his teeth sunk into her shoulder. Max couldn't suppress a gasp of pleasure as she held him to her, burning up from the inside.

Then she was gazing into a pair of hazel eyes so intense it made her breath catch in her throat. Those same eyes flashed eerily gold in the darkness, holding her captive, and Max gave herself up willingly for the first time in her life.

_Yesss_…

**Meanwhile…**

_One combat model, one velocity model. Double the fun_.

Jess' hands gripped the bar counter and she awkwardly pulled herself up, the broken heel of her left shoe making balancing virtually impossible. Quinn and Slade were in the middle of a no-holds-barred brawl. Max may have left the building but her pheromones still hung in the air, as potent as ever. Jess sighed, hoping she could limp her way out of Crash without either of them noticing. If she was lucky, they'd beat each other into unconsciousness and that would be that. She was in no condition to fight either of them, let alone a tag-team.

She held a hand to her head, knowing instinctively that the sticky fluid streaked through her hair wasn't just alcohol. Sure enough, her hand came away coated in a dark, metallic-scented substance and Jess swore under her breath.

_Brother or not, I'm gonna kill him when this is over_, she vowed angrily as she edged her way towards the back exit. She glanced over towards the door, relieved to see it wasn't locked.

Then her peripheral vision picked up a sudden lack of movement, her ears noting an ominous silence. Both Slade and Quinn had stopped, turning to look at her like bloodhounds that had caught a scent and Jess' instincts screamed a warning.

The two males attacked simultaneously and Jess belatedly realised that they were past the point of caring which female they mated with.

_Fuck!_

Jess tried to run but they overtook her easily and she had no choice but to fight them. She lashed out at Slade first, issuing a vicious uppercut. The punch connected, driving his jaw upwards so hard she heard one of his teeth break. Slade staggered back, momentarily stunned but she didn't see the attack coming at her from behind. Quinn's hands clamped down on her arms and she reacted instantly, throwing her head back and hearing a satisfying crunch as his nose broke. She regretted it immediately as pain lanced through her already pounding head but at least he let her go. They advanced yet again.

"Whoa, whoa! Time out!" she snapped, holding her arms out in what she knew was a futile gesture.

Quinn slammed her up against the bar, his fist driving into the side of her face and she tasted blood. Then Slade attacked Quinn from behind, sucker-punching him and tossing him aside. He grabbed hold of her hair as she tried to scramble out of reach, pulling her back with one savage yank that made her hiss.

Jess was thrown down onto her back and the glass embedded in the flesh sent shockwaves of pain through her body all over again. She gritted her teeth and concentrated on spitting a mouthful of blood into Slade's face as he moved to pin her down. A blow to the head tore the skin across her hairline and Jess reeled as Slade's hands imprisoned her wrists. The only free limbs Jess had left were her legs and she tried in vain to prise him off.

Right at that moment, Cindy and Abby rushed back in and stared down at the bloody, brutal scene laid out below. Abby would have hurtled down the stairs if Cindy hadn't grabbed her arm to hold her back.

"Are you outta your damn mind? They'll kill you!" Cindy protested.

"They'll kill her!" Abby shot back, wrenching herself out of Cindy's grasp and rushing down the stairs.

"Abby!" Cindy shouted, chasing after her.

Jess heard Cindy's cry. Through the blood streaming down over her eyes, she saw Abby snatch up a pool cue and move to swing at Slade.

"Abby! No!" Jess cried a warning. The cue slammed into Slade's back, right across the shoulder-blades, and splintered. The X5 turned his feline eyes on Abby, who suddenly realized how much danger she was in. Slade lunged at the same moment Jess tackled him, sending them both sprawling onto the floor as Cindy grabbed Abby by the arm and all-but-dragged her out of there.

"Get out and stay out!" Jess shrieked after them, punching Slade over and over, refusing to stop until his once-handsome face was an unrecognisable mess of blood and bruises and he was no longer moving. She was so intent that she was taken completely by surprise when half the broken pool cue connected with her ear.

Jess didn't know how long she blacked out for but it was clearly far too long. Through the haze, she struggled uselessly, her good arm pinned beneath her back while one of Quinn's arms sat across her chest, just beneath her breasts, taking most of his weight and making it difficult to breathe. His hands tore at her clothes, her jeans no match for his transgenic strength.

"Quinn!" Jess' voice was tinged with panic, her eyes wide as she realized she couldn't break his hold on her. "_Quinn, let me go!_" She tried to buck him off to no avail, her wounded leg refusing to give her any kind of leverage. He seized a fistful of her hair, using it to hold her down as he shifted his weight and drove into her. Jess cried out and tears stung her eyes as she thrashed, trying desperately to get her arm free.

Rage, fear and pain warred for dominance. The X5 male brutalising her was more animal than man, the conscious mind completely overridden by feral instinct. She didn't even realize that she was screaming, pleading with him to stop. She looked around frantically. Her injured arm moved sluggishly as she reached for something – _anything_ – that she could use as a weapon.

Quinn's teeth ravaged her neck and that was when she felt it.

Her fingers closed around the jagged neck of the bottle she'd thrown at him earlier and she put all her strength into that one strike, knowing she wouldn't get a second chance.

The glass plunged into Quinn's exposed throat, slicing through his flesh like butter. Blood spurted, running in rivers down Jess' arm as Quinn started to choke. He stared down at Jess and for a moment she thought she saw a flicker of awareness creep back into his eyes.

She pushed him off of her and scrambled backwards awkwardly as he collapsed onto his stomach.

"Jess…" he gasped as he strangled, his blood pumping out into an ever-expanding pool beneath his cheek. She had no idea how long she sat there, shaking uncontrollably as Quinn bled out, his body twitching grotesquely.

Finally, Quinn went still. Jess froze, her own heart pounding as his stuttered into silence. She watched as the feral light in Quinn's eyes died, leaving nothing but a vacant stare in its wake. She stared down at Quinn's body, the sound of her own racing pulse suddenly roaring in her ears. Only the wail of approaching sirens jolted her out of her stupor.

Bracing herself against the pain, Jess struggled to get to her feet only to realize her leg wouldn't bear her weight. Seconds ticked by as the sirens came ever closer. She could hear the police cars screeching to a halt, surrounding the building.

Then she saw Slade's pistol lying on the ground, several feet away. Jess shut down as X5-767 took over, survival becoming her only thought. The traumatised girl retreated and the soldier emerged, dragging herself over to claim the weapon. She barely had time to check how many rounds were in the clip before the sector police began pouring in, rifles at the ready.

She was in plain sight, a battered shadow of her former self, holding the pistol as steadily as she could. The cops surrounded her and she knew it would be folly to fire even one round. They'd put her down like a dog without hesitation. Defeated, she lowered the weapon and one of her captors kicked it aside before moving carefully to push her hair away from her neck.

"She's transgenic," he announced, backing away as if she were contagious. He looked around the room and got nods from several of his colleagues. He clicked the button on his radio. "Sir, we're all clear."

After a few moments, a man in a modest but well-looked-after suit descended the stairs and surveyed the carnage impassively. His eyes came to rest on the two young men sprawled out on the floor. One was lying in a pool of his own blood, his pants around his knees, before shifting to the girl who had clearly been the victim of his attentions.

"Barcodes?" he asked. The two policemen shook their heads.

"This one's dead, Sergeant," one of them reported. His superior gave him a withering look for stating the obvious.

"Sir, she's transgenic," one of the officers informed him. "Probably X5."

The officer stared down at the bloodied female in disgust.

"Take her."


	17. Shifting Gears

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **I just wanted to warn everyone that I will not be writing any Max/Alec smut. I think it's best left to the imagination. However, as they will be out of commission for the next day or two, just be aware that I'll be concentrating on TC's efforts to control the situation. Knowing my tendency to cram a lot of stuff into a short space of time, it might be a couple of chapters before Max and Alec play an active (or should I say constructive?) role again.

**Chapter 17: Shifting Gears**

**Sector Seven, Terminal City Headquarters**

Brax walked around the command centre and stifled a yawn. It didn't look very good for the CO on duty to appear bored but he had to admit that despite the gravity of the situation outside the fence, that's what he was tonight. Even Dix seemed distinctly uninterested in the constant military radio chatter that came through his headset. After eight weeks of listening to the same old thing, the little transhuman knew all the military routines by heart.

After Manticore had gone down, Brax had been looking forward to dropping off the radar and living as quietly as possible. Yet he found himself craving something to do. He hated being idle, unlike Alec, who seemed to thrive on junk food and television.

_You expected a quiet life with Shaine?_ His subconscious mocked him. _Yeah. Right_. Brax's lips twitched at the thought_. If she hadn't dragged you to Seattle, you'd have ended up here anyway and you know it_.

"Brax." Dix caught his attention, frowning at whatever he was hearing on the police scanners. "The cops got a call-out to Crash. They say some transgenics tore the place up."

"Do we have anyone in that sector?" Brax asked quickly, striding over to Dix's side.

"Slade and Quinn are there," Dix informed him. "They called in earlier. Seems Original Cindy threw a party over there for the Jam Pony crew."

"Alec and the girls are at Crash," Brax mused, frowning in sudden concern. "Luke, start trying to contact our people. I want to know exactly what's going on down there."

**Sector Nine, Outside Crash Bar**

Original Cindy remained on the fringe of the scene, watching anxiously with Abby by her side. They weren't concerned about being questioned by the police. Neighbours and passers-by had gathered to see what all the commotion was about and now the two women were simply faces in the crowd.

Jess had been dragged out first, her wrists and ankles in chains, bleeding all over the street, her clothes torn and hanging from her in shreds. She'd struggled and had been promptly hit over the head with a baton in return. She hadn't moved again after that, her limp form being all but thrown into the back of the police wagon.

Blue and red flashing lights from the police cars and ambulances lit up the street. Hummer and Herbal were being tended by two paramedics, one of whom Cindy recognised as Rafer.

Two ambulances had already left. One was carrying a virtually unrecognisable Slade. Only his clothes and hair had revealed his identity. The other carried a body bag.

"Cindy." She turned to find Sketchy standing at her elbow. Abby flashed him a brief smile and the tips of his ears turned pink. Cindy struggled to stop herself from smiling as well. At least something good had come out of the party.

"You okay, Sketch?" she asked. He nodded quickly.

"What the hell happened in there?" he asked softly, being careful not to draw attention to them. "Slade and Quinn just went crazy. And since when do Max and Alec want to jump each other's bones?"

Cindy wondered how much to tell him. He was one of Max's most loyal friends but she didn't think Max would want X5 mating cycles appearing in the next issue of New World Weekly. She exchanged a meaningful look with Abby, who seemed similarly conflicted.

"Are we talking to our friend or to a reporter?" Cindy asked shrewdly. Sketchy blinked. The distinction had clearly not occurred to him. He looked over at Abby and saw the same question written across her face.

"Friend," he replied finally, his natural curiosity kicking in. "Hey, I didn't write anything bad about the hostage situation at Jam Pony, did I? Or about Jess fighting the Vipers?"

Cindy had to give him that. He cared about Max and she didn't believe for a moment that he'd endanger her… not deliberately, anyway. Abby's lips curved upwards a little, indicating her approval.

"Come on," Cindy said, urging both Sketchy and Abby away from the main crowd and towards the side alley. The cops were only watching the exits after sweeping the area for anyone else. Cindy had been infinitely relieved that Max and Alec were long gone by then. Intrigued, Sketchy followed the two women without another word.

"You have gotta swear on your momma that you ain't never gonna tell anyone about this," Cindy warned him, the hard look in her dark eyes leaving him in no doubt of the consequences if he broke his word. "Got it?"

"Okay, I got it," Sketchy said hurriedly, feeling a little defensive. "I swear."

"It's a cat thing," Cindy began, trying to think of the best way to phrase it. "Transgenic females got this thing goin' on where they go into heat every once in a while. Makes the males kinda violent."

Sketchy's eyes were as round as saucers. "Whoa…" Then one side of his mouth lifted as the possibilities occurred to him. Cindy's hand hitting the back of his head put a stop to that. "Ow!"

"You promised," Cindy reminded him sternly but any reply he might have made was lost on her as something lying on the ground in the alley caught her eye.

"What is it?" Abby asked curiously as Cindy strode away from them. She leaned down and picked up a very familiar shirt, holding it out for Sketchy and Abby to examine.

"Hey, that's Alec's," Sketchy said thoughtfully, looking down the empty street as if his friend might magically materialise at any moment.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Abby said quietly, her green eyes meeting Cindy's darker ones. With a nod of understanding, Cindy and Abby moved further along the road with Sketchy in tow.

"Uh, guys, what are we thinkin'?" he asked.

Abby sighed as she picked up a black lace bra and dangled it from her finger.

"That there's probably more where these came from."

**Sector Seven, Terminal City Headquarters**

"Report," Brax said, coming to stand behind Dix and Luke at the communications consoles.

"Slade and Quinn aren't answering," Luke told them.

"Same for Alec," Dix chimed in. "I've paged Max."

"All right, call Kestrel. She's on duty at the safehouse on Washington. Tell her to get down there and check it out."

"We've got more radio traffic, Brax," Dix reported, handing him a spare headset.

"_One dead, one injured_," the officer reported. "_Both en route to Harbour Lights. We have a female X5 in custody. ETA – six minutes_."

Brax closed his eyes and shook his head. An X5 female in custody. Did they mean Max or Jess? Who was dead or injured? His people or the ordinaries?

"Damn it all to hell… Get Rand, Jett and Mole in here and find out where they're taking the female."

"Jett's not on the active duty roster," Dix protested. Brax turned the full force of his gaze on Dix.

"I don't care. Get him in here," Brax insisted in a tone that brooked no argument. "Now."

**Sector Nine**

Cindy, Abby and Sketchy continued following the odd trail of trail of clothes. So far they'd laid claim to two pairs of jeans, a belt and a pair of black lace panties that matched the bra Abby had found. They hadn't even gone that far. No more than a block, truth be told.

There it was – the last item of clothing they expected to find. A pair of black boxers on the stairs of an abandoned building. With a shake of her head that set her curls bouncing, Cindy picked up the boxers and held out her hand to Abby, who handed over the bundle of clothing without argument.

"You two wait here," Cindy told them. Abby understood and turned a winning smile on Sketchy, leaving Cindy to search the building by herself. The last thing they needed was for Sketchy to hear or see what was going on with the two transgenics. Cindy knew that Max would be mortified.

She also knew that two stark naked X5s would be pretty conspicuous once Max's heat cycle was over.

It didn't take long for Cindy to track them down. She could hear them. She'd know Max's voice anywhere. Making a face, she crept along the hall until she came to the right door. Cindy didn't want to take any chances so she simply opened the door halfway, tossed the clothes through the opening and closed it as quietly as she could.

She dusted her hands off and went back the way she came, satisfied that she'd done all she could… for the moment anyway. Original Cindy wasn't stupid enough to try to separate two mating transgenics, especially when one of their own kind had already taken a pounding trying to do just that.

She just hoped that Max wouldn't hate Alec once it was over.

Together, the trio made their way back to Crash to wait for Herbal.

"Do you think that Slade and Jess are gonna be okay?" Sketchy asked, looking from Cindy to Abby and back again. Cindy sighed.

"I hope so," she told him as the crowd came into view. Then she recognised the young woman with short blonde hair and a high-collared jacket standing back from the main group, her dark eyes taking in everything. She saw Cindy walking over to her and smiled weakly.

"Don't s'pose you can tell me what the hell happened here?" Kestrel asked, gesturing towards the building.

**Sector Seven, Terminal City**

Brax, Mole, Rand and Jett were all standing in a loose circle around a table, discussing the situation at hand when Luke handed Brax the secure-line phone.

"_Brax, it's Kestrel. I'm at Crash,"_ the female informed him.

"Okay, hold on a second while we put you on speaker," Brax told her, nodding at the little transhuman. Dix obediently changed the setting so that everyone present could listen.

"What happened?" Brax asked urgently.

"_Max went into heat_."

Brax saw Rand stiffen beside him as they suddenly realised with frightening certainty what had occurred. "Is everyone all right?"

"_Not civilian casualties, only minor injuries. Cops are crawling all over the place. Max and Alec got away but Slade's been taken to Harbour Lights. His barcode was lasered off so they don't know he's X5 but Jess' barcode was intact. She's been arrested."_

So Jess had been taken, not Max. Cruel as it seemed, Brax was relieved. They couldn't afford to have Max caught at a scene like that – not if they expected to have any kind of plausible deniability. Nonetheless, he looked over at Rand, whose expression was stony.

Then his brow furrowed in concern. She hadn't said what happened to Quinn. "Kestrel?" he prompted her.

"_Quinn's dead_," she said finally. Brax's dark eyes hardened.

"Cops?" Rand asked, forcing his voice to remain neutral.

"_He was already dead when they found him. From what Cindy's told me, it was either Slade or Jess_."

Brax and Rand exchanged a look before Brax spoke again. "Okay, call us if you get anything else."

"_Gotcha_." With that, she hung up.

"Okay, Mole," Brax began. "Security's your responsibility. Beef it up on the QT. It won't be long before Matheson calls wanting answers and I don't want to spook him."

"No problem," Mole replied, chewing on the end of his cigar. "Dalton's babysitting."

"Jett, are you up for this?" Brax asked.

The scarred X5 nodded without hesitation.

"Good, get an extraction team together. You're going after Slade but if you can bring Quinn back too, I want you to do it. Talk to Doc Woods, see if she can get you in. Otherwise, use your imagination and take Cody with you."

"Who's going to tell Fallon?" Jett asked quietly.

Brax winced. "I am." The task of telling Quinn's mate wasn't one that he was willing to delegate.

"I'm going after Jess," Rand stated simply, meeting Brax's eyes.

"Snatch and grab, pal," Brax impressed on him. "It's gotta be quick and clean. No mistakes. We can't afford to kill any cops, not after Jess shot the last one."

"Understood," Rand replied, "but I want Sari with us."

"Agreed." Brax looked around the table at his three companions. "Are we all clear?"

"Yeah, we got it, kid," Mole replied gruffly. Brax gave him a quelling look. He didn't know what had prompted Mole's habit of calling him a kid but it was beginning to wear thin.

"Report back when you're all ready to go," Brax told them. "I want this done simultaneously so we're back home before anyone's the wiser. Move out."

Rand was the last to leave the table, his blue eyes shadowed.

"Rand," Brax called after him, halting him in his tracks. "Jess is X5, man. She can handle herself."

Rand's lips compressed into a grim line and he shook his head.

"That's what everyone thought about Kestrel."


	18. Soldiers

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**Chapter 18: Soldiers**

**Sector Seven, Terminal City**

The anticipated call from General Anthony Matheson had come barely six minutes after the planning session had adjourned. He'd demanded a meeting with Max and Alec – a request Brax knew it was impossible to grant. He'd settled for informing the General that the Terminal City 'representatives' would meet with him in an hour on his side of the fence.

However, he'd had a stop to make before leaving to attend what would undoubtedly be a very tense meeting.

In hindsight, he should have waited. Fallon's temper was even more flammable than Max's. He'd explained what had happened, had anticipated anger and grief but nothing could have prepared him for the resulting explosion when she'd realised that another X5 had murdered her mate.

_Murdered_. That was the word she'd used, as if anyone there had any real control over their actions.

Shaine met him as he descended the last flight of stairs, her warm brown eyes darkening with concern. She took one look at him and held out a hand, which he took and used to pull her to him. Her arms went around him and Brax just held her for a long moment, burying his face in her hair.

"I'm sorry," Shaine said gently. Quinn had been her friend as well.

"Yeah," he said softly, finally pulling back. "Me too."

"I heard that you're going over the fence. Have you got back-up?" she asked, changing the subject as much for his sake as hers.

"I'm taking Sway with me," he told her.

"It should be me going with you," she told him, her dark eyes revealing her frustration. "You know that."

Brax allowed himself a smile. She'd always been determined and sometimes fierce beyond belief. Stubborn, that was a given.

"I know," he assured her and leaned in to kiss her hungrily. Deep down, he wished she could come with him. He trusted Sway – that was never in question and he happened to need her gifts on this little outing – but Shaine made him feel safe. They'd been watching each other's backs ever since Manticore burned down. It went against the grain for her to be left behind now.

"I love you," he said softly. "Have I ever told you that?"

She softened and shook her head slightly. One corner of her mouth curved upwards. "No, you haven't."

Neither of them spoke any further on the subject. Their kind weren't good at deep-and-meaningfuls. They were soldiers. Vulnerability of any kind had never come easily to them.

He cleared his throat quickly. "So, are you gonna wish me luck?"

**Sector Nine, Police Station**

The X5 sitting in the far corner of her cell looked harmless enough. She was a beaten, bloody mess – no threat to anyone. No-one would believe that this pathetic creature was a genetically engineered killing machine. At least that's what the Captain had said when they'd thrown her in there, her wrists in cuffs and her ankles in chains. Yet he'd still refused to come within ten feet of her, choosing instead to let his men manhandle her into a holding cell.

It had been her eyes that made him wary. A swirl of blue and green, they were cold. Glacial, in fact, and more than one officer had nervously fingered his baton as if they expected her to turn on them at any moment. To them, she wasn't human. She was a wounded animal that would as soon bite the hand of any who came close, whether they intended to help her or hurt her.

X5-767, known to the wider world as Jess, didn't dare let herself slide back into unconsciousness. She'd woken all at once while she was being transported, feeling sluggish and vague. She'd become instantly aware of two things – pain and the feel of cold metal on her skin, both more familiar than her captors could possibly know.

She hadn't moved. She hadn't even opened her eyes, her years of military training and her own survival instincts prompting her to remain still. Her breathing remained slow and even. She had catalogued her injuries, feeling oddly detached from her own body as she did so. It hadn't taken more than a few moments to realise that any attempt to escape would be futile.

They hadn't realised she was awake until they'd dragged her out of the vehicle, jarring her leg and her shoulder. She'd let out a hiss of pain and found several rifle barrels mere inches away from her face. They'd made her walk to the holding cells, so wary of their prisoner that it was almost laughable. She'd gritted her teeth and by sheer force of will she'd made it without her leg collapsing under her weight. She would have looked ridiculous under any other circumstances, limping through the building with one broken high heel still strapped onto her foot so that she was off-balance. The fact that she was covered in rapidly drying blood seemed to have a sobering effect.

Now the sector police had two armed, beefy guards standing against the wall across from her latest cage. She sat absolutely still, watching them with unnerving intensity.

For the first time in years, Jess had switched off. Only 767 remained. It had been something she'd learned at Manticore, a way to escape when they hurt her so badly she wanted to cry or scream. It was a survival mechanism.

She knew that if Alec had been in the picture, he would have come after her but he didn't even know she was there. He wouldn't know for another forty hours or so. In a military sense, she was expendable. She wasn't of any importance to Terminal City. They could deny any association with her and wash their hands of the problem. The needs of the many and all that bullshit.

767's eyes suddenly shifted towards the door. She heard them coming long before the guards did. Four more officers walked in and came to stare at her through the bars.

"Is that the one?" one of them asked.

"Looks like it," another said. "What's her barcode number?"

"X5-767," the first replied. "Can we get someone in to give a positive ID?"

"How many X5s can there be left outside Terminal City?" the second asked with a sneer. "Let alone blonde females that tear bars apart in their spare time? It's her."

"Then she's the one who tore up that gang and shot Daley in that warehouse last month," a third said grimly, looking at their prisoner rather like she was a piece of meat. "She killed a cop."

With that ominous declaration, the first pulled out the key to the cell and opened it. The four officers walked in while the two armed guards didn't move a muscle.

The X5 simply watched them, her vivid eyes moving across them as they gripped their batons.

_Four against a wounded one. Serve and protect, my ass_.

The first man moved to hit her but even injured, she was fast. She dove to her right, landing badly on her damaged leg and when he turned, leaning down to follow her movement, she seized the only chance she was going to get. Both hands locked around the officer's throat in one last desperate attempt to defend herself, lashing out the only way she could. She squeezed with all her strength, feeling the vertebrae creak under her fingers.

The first strike landed against the bullet wound to her shoulder and she released her captive with a cry. He staggered back as 767 curled into a foetal ball, holding her cuffed hands up in an attempt to protect her head as blows rained down on her. It was no good. Her vision swam and soon everything was fading into darkness.

"_What the hell are you doing?_" an outraged voice roared after what seemed like an eternity. The officers looked up startled, to find Ramon Clemente wading into the fray, pulling them away from the transgenic one by one. He raged at them, his temper finally snapping as he drove them out of the cage. They didn't dare strike a fellow officer.

"Mutant lover," one of them muttered spitefully. Clemente pretended that he hadn't heard the man and resolutely locked the cell door behind him.

She simply laid there, unmoving, blood oozing from her nose and mouth onto the cement floor of the cell.

All Clemente could do was watch her, knowing with a horrible certainty that he couldn't keep them away from her forever. Sooner of later, they'd get to her.

If she stayed there for much longer, she'd die there.

**Sector Seven, Terminal City Perimeter**

Brax strode into Matheson's field office as if he owned the place with Sway at his side.

"Where are 452 and 494?" Matheson asked suspiciously, watching as Sway smiled at one of his guards and began chatting quietly. The guard was trying to ignore her without much success.

"Max and Alec aren't available," Brax told them, folding his arms across his chest. "I'm Brax and I'll be your liaison for today. What can I do for you, General?"

Brax's calm, almost nonchalant demeanour should have surprised the General but after two months of exposure to 494, he'd come to expect such an attitude from the transgenics.

"The agreement is that we deal with 452 and 494," Matheson insisted.

"You deal with me or you don't deal at all," Brax said with a shrug, refusing to budge. If the military discovered that Max and Alec were outside the fence, the shit would really hit the fan.

Matheson leaned back in his chair a little, his calculating gaze sweeping over the young man standing before him. The General gave no hint of what he was thinking. Brax simply waited patiently, studying the older man in turn. He appeared to be around sixty years old or thereabouts, his neat dark hair liberally peppered with silver. For his age, he was in admirable physical shape.

His eyes, sadly, reminded Brax uncomfortably of Donald Lydecker.

"Are you aware that there's been an incident at a bar in Sector Nine called Crash?" Matheson asked finally. "A man was killed and an X5 has been implicated."

"No, I wasn't aware," Brax replied rather coldly, reluctant to reveal that Terminal City was responding in any way, shape of form. "What happened?"

"We're still gathering information at this point," Matheson told him. "Witnesses have claimed that a fight broke out and a gun was fired. That gun was found in the hands of an X5 female, number 767 if the sector police read it right. Any comment?"

"We weren't aware of any transgenics outside Terminal City," Brax informed him. "We keep a close eye on our citizens and I can assure you that no-one's missing."

"How convenient," Matheson drawled. "This isn't the Seattle PD you're dealing with, boy."

"No, it's not," Brax agreed. "The tanks are a nice touch, by the way."

"You know we're going to exterminate your kind sooner or later."

The words were uttered with absolute calm, complete confidence. Brax almost smiled at the man.

"You know, it's a shame Clemente got busted back to a beat cop. He was the only one of you with a brain," Brax told Matheson with a shake of his head. "We've told you before and I'm telling you again – we're not going anywhere."

"Do you really want to put your freaks up against my army?" Matheson asked scornfully.

Brax turned his unnervingly cold gaze on the commander, secure in the knowledge that he could kill the man before he even knew what hit him.

"Try me."

"Don't tempt me," Matheson growled warningly.

Brax didn't even turn around. He just sighed in resignation. "You know, I really didn't want to do this. Sway."

The mocha-skinned transgenic, who'd been talking softly with Matheson's other guard, moved calmly toward the General's desk. He tried to draw his sidearm but Brax blurred, taking the pistol at the same moment that Sway shoved him back into his chair and grabbed the man's chin, forcing him to look directly into her ebony eyes.

He stopped struggling immediately. Throughout all of this Matheson's men simply stood by the door, apparently oblivious to everything that was happening right in front of them.

"General, you will not, under any circumstances, take offensive action against Terminal City or its residents. Is that understood?" Sway told him, easily holding him enthralled.

"Yes," he said, nodding slightly. Sway smirked in satisfaction.

"Now, we're going to leave and you're going to report that Max and Alec came to see you as requested. You discussed the problem and you're satisfied that Terminal City is in no way affiliated with the incident. Do you understand?"

"Yes," he said again.

"Good boy," she said lightly, patting him lightly on the head as she would a dog. "Now you can forget we were ever here." She turned to the guards. "That goes for you two as well. Now, escort us back to the fence."

The two men obeyed without hesitation and Brax shook his head in admiration.

"PsyOps strikes again," he murmured. "Nice job."

"Any time."

"How long before it wears off?" he asked.

"It depends on whether or not something jogs his memory but generally it doesn't," she informed him. "At the very least we should have about forty-eight hours."

"I can live with that," Brax replied.


	19. Invincible Part I

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **Death to Supernatural plot bunnies – they've been slipping sleeping pills into my DA muse's morning coffee! They are to blame for this taking so long to post!

Also, BIG THANKS AND HUGS to CandyCentric for nominating Chimera for The Broken World Awards! squeal

**Chapter 19: Invincible Part I**

**Sector Seven, Terminal City**

"Are you Brax?"

Brax looked up from poring over schematics of the Sector Nine Police Station with Tucker and Rand to find an unfamiliar X5 who bore an uncanny resemblance to Max standing over him. Beside him was a pretty blonde female with dark eyes.

"Krit and Syl, right?" Brax asked, looking from the combat model to his mate. He straightened up and folded his arms across his chest. "I take it this isn't a social call."

"We heard about what happened at Crash earlier," Syl replied. "We want in."

"Hmm. Word travels fast around here," Brax replied, running a practiced eye over the two soldiers.

"Fuck that. They're 09ers," Tucker warned, making his opinion clear. "They'll bail at the first sign of trouble."

Brax watched Krit and Syl's reaction to Tucker's animosity carefully. Both of them stiffened. Clearly the general attitude towards his unit hadn't escaped them.

"Max is our sister," Krit replied with a hint of anger in his dark eyes. "We don't bail on family."

"We're not going after Max," Brax pointed out. "She and Alec got away clean."

"I think you know that's not what we meant," Syl said shrewdly, regarding Brax critically. "This is Max's home. She's not here to protect it so we'll do it for her."

"I thought you had a kid."

"We do. She's at the nursery," Syl informed him as if that should put an end to the argument. "Shaine said you needed the numbers."

She was right. He had too many problems and not enough soldiers to handle them. The problem was that he'd known every X5 in Terminal City for most of his life. He knew their strengths and weaknesses. These two were rogues, unknown quantities in a situation where Brax had to be sure of each and every one of his people.

"Keep an eye on things for a minute," Brax said, looking over his shoulder for a moment.

"Go," was all Rand said, returning his attention to the plans at hand. Brax gestured for Krit and Syl to precede him out of the command centre. When Tucker would have protested again, Rand cleared his throat and fixed the younger X5 with a penetrating glare.

Once they were outside, Brax levelled with Krit and Syl.

"You need to pay real close attention to what I'm about to say," he told them.

"We're listening," Syl replied.

"You say Max is your family and you won't bail on her. I get that and I respect it… but you have to understand that there were consequences when you escaped. _We_ paid the price for your freedom and there are a lot of people here who are not gonna overlook that."

Krit and Syl didn't reply, absorbing what Brax was telling them in silence.

"We were taught to hate you," Brax continued, knowing that he was being brutally honest but he couldn't afford not to be. "If you two are gonna stick around, you're not gonna have it easy. Are you really willing to come on a raid with a bunch of X-series soldiers who'd rather light your asses on fire than save them? If not, get out of my way. You're no good to me."

Krit and Syl exchanged a long look, clearly weighing up the pros and cons. Brax doubted that Max had given them a realistic idea of how their presence in Terminal City would be perceived. Max had earned the respect of every transgenic in Seattle and seemed to take it for granted that her siblings would be equally welcome. Brax was under no such illusions.

The decision they made now would tell him everything he needed to know.

"Think about it for a few minutes," Brax told them. "I'll be in command when you decide."

Rand was rolling up the schematics when Krit and Syl finally reappeared. Tucker folded him arms, his hostility practically a living, breathing thing. The duo didn't so much as glance at him.

"We're in," Krit declared calmly.

Brax nodded in approval.

"Come with me."

**Sector Nine, Police Station, Three Hours Later**

The figure crouched atop a six storey building seemed unconcerned about the distance between him and the ground. The cold wind was similarly ignored. His attention was fixed on the compound across the street. Surrounded by fifteen feet of barbed-wire fencing and a number of roving guards, armed to the teeth, it looked rather forbidding… to the average person, anyway. The young man studying it was by no means average.

Rand was waiting, not as patiently as he should have, but waiting nonetheless for the two other teams to report that they were in position. The three strikes had been planned as a simultaneous exercise. Twelve transgenics awaited his orders, positioned strategically around the police station.

The moment Kestrel had reported that Jess had been taken, Rand had known she must have been in bad shape. She would never have let them take her otherwise. She'd have run, or maybe flirted her way out of trouble. He certainly knew she was more than capable of the latter.

"Stop frowning," Sari chided him as she walked up to stand beside him. "It ruins your good looks."

Rand gave her a confident smile. "No, it doesn't." Sari rolled her eyes. He knew he was gorgeous and he was anything but modest about it. Women had been throwing themselves at him ever since Manticore burned down.

"You're assuming the worst," she pointed out, easily guessing his thoughts. He certainly hadn't brought her along for her feminine charms.

"I have good reason to," he replied, looking up at her. "You should know that."

Sari nodded slowly but chose not to say anything. Kestrel was one of her closest friends and Sari's son, Kyp, was Cleo's most frequent playmate.

"They've had her for almost four hours," Rand said gravely, the weight of the tranquilizer gun in its holster oddly comforting against his hip. He'd have preferred a Glock but killing wasn't on the agenda.

Then again, if push came to shove, he didn't need any weapons except for his own two hands.

"The security feed?" Rand asked.

"They've hacked in," Sari reported. "They're looping it now."

The radio at his shoulder suddenly crackled to life and Brax's voice issued from the speaker.

"_Beta and Gamma Teams are in position_," Brax reported. "_Get it done_. _Over_."

"Acknowledged," Rand replied quickly.

Rand quickly slipped a black balaclava over his head and pulled it down so that it reached his shoulders. Sari quickly followed suit. It was a cliché, but it was practical. If no-one could see anyone's faces or necks, no-one could positively identify them as transgenic. Besides, it had a certain dramatic flair that Rand found quite amusing.

"We have a go," Rand said crisply into his radio as he and Sari began climbing down the side of the building. "All ground units advance. Snipers, take the guards.

**Sector Nine, Outside Harbour Lights Hospital**

Jett watched as Dale strolled through the front doors of Harbour Lights and sighed with frustration and more than a little bit of envy. Jett couldn't go out in public and expect not to be noticed – the scars from the previous month's ordeal were still visible. Dale's job was also one of the easier ones. He was one of the most experienced X5 hackers. There wouldn't be any trace of Quinn or Slade in the system by the time he was done.

Jett didn't waste any more time. He found his entrance quickly, climbing the fire escape up to the abandoned top floor so that he could work his way down through the service elevators until he reached the morgue.

He only had to avoid one janitor, plastering himself against the ceiling of the elevator where he remained safely unnoticed until the man stepped out.

Doctor Rosalind Woods had been surprisingly co-operative when Brax had called her at the hospital and explained that the two men that had been brought in – one in a body bag, one in critical condition – were transgenics. The good doctor had advised them to take care of Quinn first while she prepped Slade for transport. As the attending on duty, her interest in Slade wouldn't be questioned.

So Jett and his team had slipped into Harbour Lights with half the battle already won. They hadn't known how bad Slade really was and Cody had been reluctant to take any action that might compromise the work the emergency ward had already done.

Jett pressed his ear to the door of the morgue and listened, estimating how many people were inside. A slight smile touched his lips.

One man judging by the heavy footfalls.

Jett pulled a small bottle and a wad of fabric out of his pocket, unscrewing the cap and making a face as he poured the chemical onto the material.

He hated chloroform. The smell made him want to sneeze.

Jett pushed the door open carefully and crept noiselessly up behind the humming attendant. His arm snaked over his shoulder and his fingers clamped around the throat so tightly the man couldn't do anything but squeak and squirm uselessly as Jett pressed the chemical-soaked wad of cotton to his mouth and nose. Within moments the attendant was sagging, a dead weight that Jett lowered down onto the floor carefully.

It didn't take long to locate 'John Doe' and he pulled out the slab were his friend was being kept. He swallowed hard, the image burning itself into his mind. He stared down at Quinn's body for a long moment, at the jagged wounds to his throat, and reflexively raised a hand to touch the fading scar that ran across his own neck.

_Focus, damn it!_ he scolded himself angrily. He turned and signalled for Boyd to help him and together the two men manoeuvred Quinn into a body bag. They couldn't exactly carry a dead body around in plain sight, though the body bag really wasn't that much more subtle. Nevertheless, Quinn deserved as much dignity as they could give him.

Terminal City didn't have any facilities for disposing of its dead. Burial took up precious space so cremation was really their only viable option but even that took planning. They had to smuggle the bodies out.

Jett knew Fallon would probably have his head for this but the stakes were too high to risk anybody intercepting them. Brax had agreed that it was the only realistic course of action. If the body were studied, the reality of Quinn's origins would undoubtedly be quickly revealed. That, more than a body missing from the morgue, would hurt the transgenic cause – a cause Quinn had believed in.

Jett and Boyd rolled Quinn down to the basement of Harbour Lights on a gurney they 'borrowed', knowing that was where unclaimed bodies were disposed of.

It was a horrible job but someone had to do it.

Jett turned the furnace up as Boyd carefully slid Quinn's body into the opening and snapped the grate shut after him. The two young men exchanged a glance and executed a crisp salute, a gesture of respect for their fallen comrade.

Jett squared his shoulders and met Boyd's eyes.

"Okay, let's grab Slade and get the hell outta here."

**Sector Nine Police Station**

Eight transgenics with clips full of sodium thiopental tranquilizer darts swept through the station, taking down everybody they encountered. The cops were no match for transgenic reflexes and their targets easily evaded the bullets fired in their direction as those in custody dove frantically for cover. As much as Rand would have preferred to leave the civilians alone, he knew he couldn't afford to have witnesses.

Typically, someone tried to be a hero, charging Rand with a semi-automatic handgun.

_There's always one_, Rand thought ruefully as he ducked, dodging the bullet and grabbing hold of the man's wrist, snapping the bones with frightening ease. As the officer cried out, Rand wrested the pistol from the nerveless fingers and hit the cop across the head with the butt of it. The cop folded up like an accordion, leaving Rand standing over him with the pistol in his hand, shaking his head at such stupidity.

Two X5s quickly manned the police channels, buying the team precious time. The sooner the field cops realized that the station had been compromised, the sooner reinforcements would arrive. Rand quickly signalled to his team and they dispersed to check that they hadn't missed anyone. They also began handcuffing the unconscious cops to various pieces of office furniture just to be safe.

"Clear!" Sari called out after a few seconds. With that assurance still ringing in his ears, Rand made his way towards the holding cells. There were two steel-barred barriers between the transgenics and their objective. The small explosives in Sari's utility belt made short work of those. Rand kicked in the second door, his trank gun at the ready, to find himself staring at a very familiar face.

"Hold your fire!" the man called out, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Clemente?" Rand slipped off his balaclava, genuinely surprised to see the former detective. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Are you here for the blonde?" Clemente asked. Rand nodded and without another word the officer pulled his keys off his belt and handed them over. "Fifth cell on the right. Hurry."

The detective didn't say another word as a tranquilizer dart pierced his neck and within seconds he slumped onto the floor. Sari checked him quickly and holstered her weapon.

"Sorry, pal, but it's better this way," Rand told him, then jogged down the corridor with Sari by his side and stopped dead, staring down at the unconscious girl lying on the floor of the cell.

As much as he hated to think about it, the last time he'd seen a transgenic female in such a condition, he'd inflicted every wound himself. There was too much blood and far too much skin on display. The torn remains of her clothes told the story more eloquently than words ever could have.

The sudden urge to kill the perpetrator almost overwhelmed him yet the only outward sign of his fury was his rapidly darkening expression. Rand knew with sickening certainty that his worst fears had been realized.

"Jesus…" Sari breathed as Rand shook himself and turned the key in the lock, swinging the door wide. They both rushed inside, Sari's fingers immediately searching for a pulse as she ran her eyes over her patient, assessing the damage.

"Jess, can you hear me?" Rand asked quietly, urgently. "Jess!"

"She's out cold," Sari said, quickly running a hand along Jess' back to feel for spinal injuries. "Okay, we've gotta move her. Come on."

Rand pulled his balaclava back down and lifted Jess into his arms quickly. He barely restrained a growl as he inhaled. He could smell Quinn all over her.

Reining in his temper, he followed Sari towards the nearest exit.


	20. Invincible Part II

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **The countdown is on! Only one more chapter after this until Max and Alec return!

**Chapter 20: Invincible Part II**

**Sector Nine, Harbour Lights Hospital, Pharmaceutical Stores**

Syl typed in the code-key for the electronic lock on the door and were rewarded by a click as the mechanism released. Doctor Woods had come through on more than one front. They filed inside quickly, closing the door behind them. They immediately started scanning the stock, searching for the necessities.

"Jackpot," Syl said with satisfaction, tossing a five-hundred count bottle of Tryptophan to Krit, who grinned.

"Nice. Bag it all," he replied as he and the four X6s assigned to the supply run began taking anything they could find from Brax's list. They'd all known that if Tryptophan was the only thing to go missing, it would be far too obvious that transgenics were the perpetrators.

Krit had decided that he liked Brax. Disloyal as it seemed, Krit respected the fact that Brax had laid it all out for him and Syl and then let them decide for themselves. Zack had never been into multiple choice.

The thought of his older brother made Krit wince. Zack was gone and he wasn't coming back. He'd died to save their beautiful Maxie's life. Krit wasn't about to let Zack's sacrifice prove to be in vain. When he and Syl had discovered that Max was alive, they'd promised themselves that they'd watch their baby sister's back. If coming to Terminal City, where they were never going to win any popularity contests, was the only way to do it then so be it.

Dozens of bottles of several different medications disappeared off the shelves, filling the packs that six of them were all wearing. Brax had assigned them the easiest of the missions going down that night but Krit understood his reasoning. He wasn't sure of them and this was their chance to prove themselves. Both he and Syl were determined to not screw this up.

It took no more than a few minutes to finish. They left the store room and quickly located the nearest garbage chute. Six medicine-filled packs disappeared down the chute and were picked up at the other end by Jag, the X5 waiting outside beside the designated dumpster with a beaten-up little car with plenty of room in the boot.

Exchanging a satisfied glance, the team strolled right out of the hospital's front doors and no-one gave them a second glance.

**Sector Nine Police Station**

"Rand, we've got two cars inbound!" Zip reported, throwing down his headset. "Seems they know the guy who's supposed to be on duty too well to buy what I'm selling."

"Move!" Rand shouted and his unit obediently spread out, flanking himself and Sari as he carried Jess past the masses of sleeping cops and criminals and right out of the back door.

Tucker was just directing the truck out of the main gates when not two but three cars pulled up in their path, trying to blockade them. Tucker swerved to avoid a collision as two cops got out of their vehicles, angrily demanding to know where they were going in such a hurry.

_Busted_.

"Punch it!" Rand snapped at Tucker as Sari checked the two gunshot wounds quickly. They were all jolted as Tucker put the pedal to the metal, driving right through the cars in his way among angry shouts and demands to stop. Rand immediately began heating the blade of his pocket knife with a cigarette lighter.

"The bullet's still inside," Sari said grimly, having to settle for putting pressure on that particular injury until she had the tools to dig the shrapnel out. Rand pressed the blade to the entry and exit wounds on Jess's shoulder, grimacing as the stench of burning flesh filled the back of the truck.

"We've got a few uninvited guests, guys," Tucker warned urgently, frowning at his mirrors. Rand looked up and out of the back window to see that Tucker was right. Three police cars were drawing alongside them, their lights flashing red and blue in the darkness.

"I've got this. Keep going!" Rand ordered them as he manoeuvred himself into the front seat and opened the passenger side door.

"Rand!" Sari shouted but her call fell on deaf ears. Taking a split-second to judge the distance and relative velocity, Rand leapt headlong out of a speeding vehicle.

Rand landed in a crouch on the boot of the police car, only his catlike reflexes and sense of balance saving him from being thrown as the vehicle swerved and the two other cars rushed past. He grabbed hold of the flashing lights on the roof with his right arm and pulled himself up as the officer in the passenger side opened fire, shooting through the rear window and shattering the glass.

The man had no idea that he'd just done Rand a favour.

Rand slipped back down onto the boot and swung himself through the back window, punching through the partition between him and the front seats. The passenger panicked. He unbuckled his seatbelt and flung open the door, diving out of the vehicle with a high-pitched yell.

"_Jordan!_" The driver was desperately fumbling for his weapon whilst trying to retain control of the car.

It took no more than a matter of seconds for Rand to tear down the barrier and climb into the passenger seat, knocking the driver out and grabbing hold of the steering wheel so he could bring the car to a halt long enough to toss the officer out onto the street and take his gun.

The moment he closed the doors, Rand floored it with one hand on the steering wheel and the other checking how many rounds were in the pistol's chamber. He could see them ahead, could hear the truck's engine red-lining as Tucker pushed it to the limit. Everything else faded to a blur, his entire focus on catching up to them.

He'd be damned if he was going to let the cops get their hands on anyone else.

The seconds ticked by as he drew closer, the motor whining in protest.

Finally he was level with the second car and jerked the steering wheel to the left, sideswiping the other car hard enough to send it careening over the sidewalk, through the old iron fence and into the brick wall on the other side.

_Come on, Tucker…_ Rand willed his fellow X5 to keep the truck in one piece as he steadied the police car and sped up all over again.

He picked up the pistol again and leaned out of the window, taking aim at the last pursuing car. Rand fired over and over, shooting out the tyres. As the car screeched to a halt, Rand jammed his foot onto the gas once again and aimed squarely at the enemy vehicle.

He dove out of the car at the last moment, rolling to absorb the impact of his landing as one vehicle ploughed into the side of the other.

Rand picked himself up and took a moment to look back down the street at the various remains of the three vehicles that had been pursuing the truck. With a sigh he turned and darted into the shadows, confident that he wouldn't be seen unless he wanted to be.

Nonetheless, he winced.

_Brax is gonna be pissed_.

**Sector Nine, Harbour Light Hospital, Intensive Care**

"I can't let you take him," Doctor Woods declared, standing her ground against Jett and the X-series soldiers flanking him. Behind her, Slade's face was so swollen and broken and bruised that Jett would never have known it was him without the doctor's assurances.

"You've gotta be joking," Boyd muttered. "We're on a schedule here, lady."

"I don't give a damn about your schedule," she snapped. "He's not leaving. I had no idea he was this bad when I agreed to help you get him out."

"Care to elaborate?" Jett asked, ignoring Boyd's less constructive comments.

"He has three skull fractures and there was severe bleeding in the brain. He needs to be monitored."

"So we'll monitor him," Jett replied.

"Jett, we don't have the equipment for that," Cody interjected, throwing her lot in with the good doctor.

"We also don't have time for this," Boyd chimed in.

"Listen to me," Doctor Woods said firmly. "He had a deep intracerebral haemorrhage and it's causing swelling. We're trying to counteract it with diuretics but it's too soon to know if they're working. Unless you want your friend to end up with brain damage, he needs to stay where he is."

"If he stays where he is, they'll find out he's transgenic and brain damage will be the least of his worries," Jett argued, suddenly finding himself torn between Slade's life and exposure.

"Jett, if she's right, we can't move him," Cody persisted. "I'll stay with him."

"Cody, I'm not leaving you here on your own." Jett immediately squashed that idea, wanting to hit something in frustration. He turned to Doctor Woods. "They would have taken bloods by now. Can you switch the samples?"

"I'd need ordinary blood to replace it with," she cautioned them.

"Fine." Jett turned to Boyd. "Find a donor." He clicked the radio button. "Beta Team, we're officially on guard duty. Spread out and keep it low key."

"_Guard duty? What the hell…?"_ Dale asked in confusion.

"We can't take Slade," Jett clarified. "Settle in. We're gonna be here for a while."

"_Acknowledged_."

"I think that's the most I've ever heard you say at one time," Cody said with a slight smile.

"Yeah, well, don't get used to it."

**Sector Nine Safehouse**

By the time Rand made it to the Safehouse, there was no sign of the truck. He crept in through the back entrance, reluctant to be seen out in the open. His unit had automatically split themselves up to guard the safehouse, so only two transgenics remained in the living room… along with three ordinaries Rand didn't recognize, who were sitting on the dilapidated couch.

"Kestrel said they're cool," Tucker piped up, seeing the question in Rand's eyes.

The male of the group was lanky and a bit scruffy. Beside him were two females – one with fair skin, brown hair and green eyes, the other with dark skin, equally dark eyes and curly black hair. He quickly guessed that the latter must have been Original Cindy.

"I guess you're Rand," she surmised. "We were wonderin' when you'd drag your ass in here."

"Jess?" he asked quickly.

"Your girl looks pretty bad," Cindy observed, sounding concerned. "Sari and Kes are workin' on her."

"Where?"

"Kitchen," Abby said softly, her head resting on Sketchy's shoulder. Rand strode past them without another word. He was in no mood for small talk.

He stopped in the doorway, just staring at the scene laid out before him. There was far too much blood on the kitchen counter where Jess was lying on her side, still unconscious, as Sari and Kestrel did their best to patch her up with what they had at hand. He simply watched in silence, his blue eyes darkening as a host of unpleasant memories washed over him. Just over a year ago, it had been Kestrel who'd had to be rescued… from him. Though everything else was a blur, he remembered what he'd done to her with frightening clarity.

"I'll go check on Cleo," he said, leaving the room before anyone had a chance to gainsay him. It didn't take long to find his daughter's room. He leaned his arms on the side of the cot and gazed down at her.

The only thing he and Kestrel had ever agreed on was that Cleo would never know how she'd been conceived. Neither of her parents were proud of it and even though they couldn't forget it, they refused to burden their daughter with it.

No-one seemed to have learned from what had happened between him and Kestrel. The knowledge made him want to kill someone. What the hell had Max been thinking, going out in her condition? Kestrel had set up the safehouses especially for that purpose. Now one soldier was dead and two more were in critical condition. He let his head sink into his hands as it all played through his mind again. It was his worst nightmare come to life.

He didn't know how long he watched Cleo for. It might have been minutes or it might have been hours.

"Are you all right?"

Rand spun around, startled, to find Kestrel watching him warily from the doorway.

"What?" He was sure he'd misunderstood the question. She wouldn't have cared if he'd been dead in a ditch somewhere. It was one of the side-effects of hating his guts.

"Are you all right?' she repeated patiently. Rand reached up to rub the tension out of his neck.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said automatically. "Jess?"

"We've done everything we can for now," Kestrel replied. "We're gonna keep her sedated for now, give her body a chance to heal up before…"

"Before we let her remember what they did to her," Rand finished for her.

"Yeah," Kestrel said softly. "I called Brax, gave him an update. He said to stay put."

Rand nodded, his gaze straying back to Cleo.

"How's she been doing?" he asked quietly. He hadn't seen her for over two weeks since Kestrel had voluntarily taken up permanent residence at the safehouse. Though he understood that she didn't want to be within an easy distance of him, he missed his daughter.

"She's good," Kestrel replied quickly. Rand nodded thoughtfully.

"Good. Any word on Jett and the others?"

"Brax said Jett got help up but it's under control," she said calmly. "Are you okay to watch her for a while longer?"

Rand nodded and Kestrel left the room as fast as she'd entered it.

**Sector Seven, Terminal City Limits, 6am**

General Anthony Matheson was enjoying a steaming mug of coffee when his phone rang. Not his official line but his cell phone. He frowned. Very few people had the number.

He picked it up and held it to his ear, already knowing who would be on the other end.

"Matheson."

"_It's confirmed. The female captive was liberated. No government departments have claimed responsibility. The transgenics have been outside the fence_."

"My orders?"

"_This has gone on long enough. Burn it to the ground_."

"I'll be court-martialled," Matheson felt obliged to point out.

"_Let the Conclave worry about that. Just do it._ _Fe'nos'tol_."

"Fe'nos'tol."


	21. The Things It Makes Me Do

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **I tried my very best with this chapter so I hope you all like it. The theme song for this one is "Outside" by Staind. It's just too perfect for Max and Alec. I know it's short but I thought going into another scene would ruin the moment.

**Chapter 21: The Things It Makes Me Do**

**Sector Nine, Forty Hours Later**

Max let her eyes drift closed again, feeling his fingers stroke their way slowly down her spine. She couldn't bring herself to move. She listened to the steady beat of his heart, the rhythm strangely comforting. She'd woken slowly, feeling pleasantly boneless and satiated. Usually she roused suddenly and completely but this time awareness had taken its time coming to her.

She knew he was awake and didn't doubt that he had sensed her return to the conscious world. She just let him hold her. She was determined not to ruin this, however brief it may be. She had no idea how long they just lay like that, not speaking a word for fear of breaking the fragile peace between them. She laced her fingers through his, the gesture simple yet soothing.

She hadn't been this close to anyone – particularly a male anyone – in a long time and truth be told, part of her had craved it. Skin to skin, mouth to mouth… She vaguely remembered leaving Crash, her legs wrapped around Alec's hips as he'd carried her up the stairs. The only thing she seemed to recall in detail was everything that he'd done to her… and everything she'd done to him. A pair of wicked hazel eyes flashed through her mind.

Her lips twitched. _Did I really scream for him like that?_

_You loved every second of it_, her subconscious whispered as the heat of his skin against hers warmed her despite the usual Seattle chill.

Alec continued to slide his hand down her back and smiled to himself. It seemed that the cat in her liked being petted. She was curled against his side, her head pillowed on his chest and one of her legs insinuated between his. It seemed to be Max's favourite position – at least whenever he was the one she was lying next to.

He gently stroked a stray lock of hair away from her face. She stirred and he could have sworn she purred.

It wouldn't last.

She was going to run. He knew it instinctively and everything in him railed against it. His grip on her hand tightened slightly and he pressed a kiss onto the top of her head, inhaling her scent.

Max was the most beautiful creature he'd ever met. He'd never dared to tell her but it was the truth. It wasn't just her looks – the glorious dark hair, the warm caramel skin or even those incredibly lush lips. He'd grown up with her twin, Sam, and had never felt even the slightest attraction to her.

Sam had always been ice cold. Max, well… Max was fire.

He didn't want to let her go. He'd been fighting it for some time now, shoving it to the back of his mind where he didn't have to deal with it. Just like he had with Rachel. He'd told himself that he admired Max's bravery, her conviction, that he stayed because she was his best friend and he wanted nothing more than to help her.

_You're a damn liar_, his subconscious mocked him.

Alec took a deep breath, wondering how long it would take for her self-preservation instincts to kick in and kick him out. Would it be a second, a minute? An hour?

Max felt him tense beneath her and instantly guessed his thoughts. She knew how he was expecting her to react. He was probably wondering exactly when she was planning on throwing his ass out the door with a couple of insults and a smack up the back of the head to speed him on his way. She wouldn't but he couldn't know that. After everything they'd gone through, he was too important to her. She didn't really want to leave. Leaving meant a return to reality – to responsibilities she didn't want to think about. Terminal City, her family, her friends.

Logan.

Burying her face against the smooth skin of Alec's chest, Max pursed her lips and fought down the sudden urge to cry. Alec's arms surrounded her, one hand tangling in her dark hair as he pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head.

Logan had already forgiven her for one heated indiscretion but that wasn't the same. He hadn't known who Rafer was. He was just a nameless, faceless stranger. Alec was completely different.

"It's okay, Maxie," Alec whispered against her hair. "It'll be all right."

"No, it won't," she replied miserably, finally looking up at him.

For a split-second she wanted him to make a smart-ass remark or pretend it wasn't a big deal. At least then she could hate him and justify it to herself. Instead, she saw a young man with old, old eyes, gazing up at her as if she was the only woman in the world.

Max's resolve crumbled.

Alec didn't know if she kissed him or if he kissed her but suddenly his lips were on hers, hungrily accepting everything she was offering.

Max wanted him to make love to _her_, just once. To feel like he wanted Max and not the cat. She needed it to be real and the craving frightened her with its intensity. Later - if she needed to - she could say it had simply been the aftermath of her heat. She just wanted one more taste of him before it was all over and cold, harsh reality ruined the moment forever.

Alec didn't hold anything back – there was nothing left to hold back. Max knew his every secret, his every flaw. He gave her everything he had, putting everything he was into the simple act of kissing her. She deserved better than this – better than him – but he could make her forget where they were and how they'd gotten there.

He could make her forget about Logan, if only for a little while.

Their lovemaking was slow, passionate and bittersweet. Even the sound of her crying his name, her breathing as fractured as her voice, couldn't erase the knowledge that she was going to leave.

He watched her pad silently across the cold wooden floor to the pile of clothes sitting just inside the door and dress quickly, hiding her golden skin from his view. Part of him wanted to grab hold of her and shout at her that she belonged with him but he knew Max far too well. Anything of the sort would just make her fight him even harder.

"Stay with me," he urged softly, imbuing that simple request with enormous meaning and Max felt tears burning behind her eyes. He saw her answer written across her face.

"I'm sorry," she whispered brokenly.

Alec had known it would happen. He'd expected it, braced himself for it. Yet somehow he hadn't been prepared for just how much it _hurt_.

"We're still friends, right?" Max asked tentatively, her voice shaking badly.

Left with no other choice but not trusting himself to speak, Alec simply nodded and got to his feet, giving Max a view of his sleekly muscled back as she grasped the doorknob. She hesitated. The sight of him staring out of the filthy window in silence was nearly her undoing.

Then he heard her rush out and the door closed, literally and figuratively, leaving Alec alone. He bowed his head and gritted his teeth, fervently wishing that the room didn't smell like her - like them. For about a minute he didn't move as he tried to get himself under control.

As Max made her way down the stairs, she heard the sound of the window smashing and flinched. She fought back tears, knowing with a horrifying certainty that it wasn't Logan she was crying over.


	22. Fallout

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **Thanks to everyone who reviewed! You guys f#king rock!

**Chapter 22: Fallout**

**Sector Five, Original Cindy's Apartment**

The frantic knocking gave Original Cindy a fair idea of who was standing out in the corridor. She hurried to open the door and immediately stepped aside to let Max – teary-eyed, pale and dishevelled – come inside.

"Hey," Max said weakly, glancing up at Cindy as she restlessly pushed her hair away from her face.

"Hey, boo," Cindy said with gentle smile as she reached out and hugged Max tightly. She remembered how upset Max had been when she'd gone out and hit it with some random guy during her last estrus cycle.

Rafer had been bad enough. Cindy knew that a forty-eight hour sex marathon with Alec would probably result in a full-core meltdown.

"Max, did he hurt you?" Cindy asked carefully, wondering if her friend had any idea what she looked like. Max shook her head in answer.

"Mind if I use your shower?" Max asked softly.

"Go right ahead, boo," Cindy replied with a small nod, watching as Max moved towards the bathroom, her shoulders slumped with exhaustion that Cindy suspected was more than physical. The door closed quietly and Cindy settled down on the couch to wait until Max was ready to talk.

Max tossed aside the jeans, leaving her standing in nothing but her underwear. She looked up and stopped, staring at her reflection in the mirror as she finally noticed what had prompted Cindy to ask if Alec had hurt her.

She was a mess.

Her dark hair was a mass of tangles and her eyes were puffy from crying. A trembling hand jumped to her shoulder where she could see the imprint of his teeth, her fingers tracing the crescent-shaped outline. Countless bites, scratches and bruises stood out against her skin. Her muscles ached but she knew that would fade fairly quickly. What was most unnerving was that she was covered in his scent – their scent – from head to toe.

With that in mind, Max finished stripping off and turned the shower on before she sank onto the cold tiles and drew her knees up to her chest, just letting the water cascade over her.

_Stay with me_.

Those three little words played over and over in her head. She closed her eyes and all she could see was the look on his face when she'd walked away from him.

_Damn you_, _Alec_, she thought stubbornly, desperately trying to scrounge up enough anger to rebuild her battered defences. Deep down she knew it was useless. The only thing she could think of that would make her feel any better was to talk to the woman waiting for her on the other side of the bathroom door.

"Is everyone all right?" Max asked when she finally emerged from the bathroom. "Sketchy and Herbal and the others?"

"They're all good, boo. Don't you worry your li'l self about that right now," Cindy assured her. "They won't say anything."

"Does everyone know what really happened?" Max asked, mortified by the thought.

"Sketch is the only one who knows the real dealio but seein' you getting' all heavy with hot boy kinda raised a few eyebrows, sugah," Cindy replied honestly.

Max's heart sank into her toes. How was she ever going to explain that away?

"Are _you_ aiight, boo?" Cindy asked gently. Max shook her head, her teeth tugging at her lower lip as the two of them settled down on the couch.

"He's gonna hate me," Max said, looking very much like she wanted to cry all over again.

"Nobody hates you, boo," Cindy said quickly, refusing to let her friend think such a thing but wondering at the same time which 'he' Max was referring to.

"I just left him there," Max sniffed miserably. "He asked me to stay and I just walked out."

_Alec_, Cindy surmised, showing no sign of surprise as she absorbed that particular piece of information. She'd had her suspicions about the depth of Alec's feelings for Max for several months.

"He asked you to stay?" Cindy asked softly. "To talk?"

Max shook her head, her damp hair falling around her face like a curtain.

"Do you love him?" Cindy asked, watching Max's reaction carefully.

"I…" Max suddenly looked more vulnerable than Cindy had ever seen her. "I don't know."

Max sniffled slightly and Cindy instantly drew her friend into another hug.

"What am I gonna tell Logan?" she sobbed onto Cindy's shoulder.

Max had been at Cindy's apartment for about an hour when there was another knock on the door. Leaving Max curled up on the couch with a half-empty box of tissues, Cindy turned the handle and found herself facing the one person guaranteed to wreck Max's hard-won composure.

Logan Cale.

"Logan, this ain't a good time," Cindy warned him but the cyber-journalist had already spotted the brunette sitting on the couch. He brushed past Cindy without a second thought.

"Max!" Logan exclaimed in relief, sitting down beside her. He took one of her hands in his gloved one and stroked her hair away from her face with the other. "Thank God, I was so worried when nobody could find you. Are you all right?"

Behind Max, Cindy was emphatically shaking her head at Logan. He gave her a quizzical look and promptly ignored the gesture, choosing instead to focus on Max.

"I'm okay," Max assured him quickly, forcing herself to smile at him despite the fresh spate of tears welling up at the sight of him. "I just thought I'd better lay low for a little while after Crash."

_Hold it together, Max_, she thought desperately as the feel of the rubber made her shiver. The sensation of Alec's warm, strong hands sliding across her bare skin flashed through her mind and she swallowed hard, silently thanking whatever powers might be out there that she didn't blush easily.

Max ruthlessly pushed the image aside, deliberately calling up the memory of the long-ago night when she'd sat on Logan's penthouse floor, kissing him the way she'd secretly wanted to for months.

"Cindy didn't tell me you were here."

Absorbed in her own thoughts, Max missed the slightly accusing tone in Logan's voice. Cindy, on the other hand, didn't. She folded her arms across her chest and glowered at him.

"I thought you might have gotten caught in the crossfire," Logan continued, ignoring Cindy. "I was so worried that you didn't get out of TC in time."

Cindy saw the first flicker of alarm in Max's eyes at Logan's words. The X5 female looked up at Cindy, who knew exactly what Max desperately wanted to ask but couldn't voice in Logan's presence.

_What's he talking about? What happened to Terminal City?_

**Sector Seven Checkpoint**

_What the hell…?_

Alec stared in consternation at the Sector Police blockading the gates to Sector Seven, decked out in riot gear and armed to the teeth. He quickly adjusted the collar of his jacket, making sure it covered his barcode completely.

He hadn't wasted any time getting out of the dingy building after Max had run – _run_, not walked – out on him. Somehow that small distinction had added insult to injury. As if giving him the 'let's be friends' line hadn't been bad enough.

He was thankful that night had already fallen by the time he'd emerged. It was a lot easier to sneak around the cops in the dark than it was by day. He jumped the fence separating Sector Five from Sector Seven effortlessly and plunged into the maze of streets that led to Terminal City.

He knew something was very wrong. Even at this time of night there were usually people walking around, making trouble or just hanging out with their friends having a laugh.

Instead, Sector Seven seemed deserted.

He was too tired to process it properly. All he wanted was to get back home, slink into his apartment and listen to Jess come up with a hare-brained scheme to fix everything.

Alec's breathing seized.

_Jessie!_

X5s were trained to never panic but Alec came dangerously close as a wave of memories slammed into him with the force of a freight train. Two bullets… she'd taken two bullets meant for him…

_His hand had wrapped itself around her throat and he hauled her to her feet with a snarl, not noticing or caring that the girl he was choking had just saved his life._

_"Alec…" Jess croaked, lashing out with a blow to the side of the head, forcing him to drop her._

He screwed his eyes shut but it played over and over in his head like a movie that he couldn't switch off no matter how hard he tried.

_"Don't make me do this, baby brother," she pleaded. "You know you're gonna have to go through me."_

_He took her at her word, lashing out with a series of kicks and punches that Jess struggled to block. She finally landed a right cross only to find her wrist locked in his grip. His other hand grabbed her shoulder, his fingers digging cruelly into the bullet wound. Jess reached up to prise his fingers out of her flesh but_ _when it came to brute strength, he had the advantage._

_He switched tactics. He hurled Jess over the bar counter with all the force he could muster before jumping over it to make sure she stayed down._

He'd attacked Jess. The image of her lying in a mess of blood and broken glass seemed burned into his mind's eye.

_Oh God…_

All thoughts of stealth pushed aside, Alec rounded the corner onto the street that led straight to the transgenics' home. That was when he caught the scent of smoke.

Alec skidded to a stop about a block away from where the fence had one been, gaping at the scene laid out before him. He felt like he was going to be sick.

The military was gone and they weren't the only ones.

The fences had been torn down and were now lying on the ground in random piles of warped metal. Scorched earth and smouldering rubble was all that remained. A few stubborn wisps of smoke still rose into the air, as if to taunt him with the terrible knowledge of what must have happened. It took every ounce of willpower Alec had not to break into a run, to start frantically searching for some sign of life.

He just stood there, his guts twisting painfully as he stared in growing horror at the blackened ruin that had once been Terminal City.


	23. The Blame Game

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **This one's more explanation than action, just to warn you. Guilt all around. Thanks for all the amazing reviews! I love you all so much!

**Chapter 23: The Blame Game**

**Sector Seven**

Alec stalked along the sidewalk under the stormy sky, his cell phone pressed to his ear. The ringing continued and he had to force himself to calm down.

_Come on, come on_… _Answer the fucking phone, Brax!_

Brax always answered, no matter how inconvenient the timing might have been. He never shirked his duty, never let things get out of control. Brax had even switched shifts with him so he could go to the damn party at Crash with Max and Jess.

Alec was starting to wish he'd never accepted Max's invitation. The price of one fun night had suddenly become astronomically high. How many people had paid that price while he and Max were…? Christ, he couldn't even think about it without flinching.

_Did they have any warning? Did they have time to flee? Was Joshua lying dead in a gutter somewhere? Had Mole gotten to Gem and Eve and did Dalton go with them?_

So many questions and not a single answer to be found.

_Had Jess gotten out?_ He shook himself sternly, ruthlessly squashing down the surge of panic that rose up at that thought. No, he wouldn't go there. After twenty years of brutal training, he refused to believe that his baby sister would go out like that.

She was too much like Max in that respect – a fighter.

The only tangible comfort he had was that Max hadn't been anywhere near Terminal City when whatever happened had happened. She was safe. She was probably with Original Cindy, wishing him a long and happy life in purgatory.

_Ask and thou shalt receive, Maxie_, he thought bitterly.

The ringing finally stopped only to be replaced by a rhythmic beeping. Alec glanced down at the display. His battery was almost dead. It wouldn't last long enough for another call.

Alec drew in a deep breath and tried to focus. Okay, so Brax hadn't answered. His phone might have been damaged or lost. There were a lot of scenarios that could explain such a lapse. It didn't necessarily signify anything dire.

_Who the hell are you trying to kid? Dire? Under-fucking-statement of the millennium_.

A drop of water splattered across the screen and Alec looked up as another fell across his nose. Drying the phone with his sleeve, he slipped it into his inside jacket pocket and took a deep breath as it began to rain.

_Okay, Alec, just think for a second. Where would they go?_

Brax would have evacuated. He would have gotten as many people out as he could.

The safehouses.

**Sector Five, Safehouse Three**

Max jumped out of the passenger side of Logan's car before the vehicle had even come to a complete stop. She ignored Logan's calls to wait, racing inside without a backward glance.

The bottom floor was empty. Max darted up the stairs, recalling the plans that Kestrel had laid out for the COs in painstaking detail. The command centre for this safehouse was on the second floor, the third door on the right. She knew her presence would have been reported the moment she got out of the car. Guards were posted on the upper levels, watching the street.

She could already smell the blood and sweat, the lingering stench of battle. She reached the top of the stairs and hesitated. Several transgenics lined the hall and each and every one was gazing at her with stony expressions. A majority of them were sporting evidence of first aid – and those were only the injuries she could see. Max felt her heart sink into her toes.

_God please let everyone be all right…_ Max thought, her hands clenching in hopes that they'd stop trembling as she approached a young X6, who was watching her with tired eyes and his left arm in a sling.

"Hey, Dalton," she said, glad that her voice had remained steady. "Are you okay?"

"I'll live," he replied simply. "You lookin' for command?"

She nodded and he gestured towards the appropriate door.

"Shaine and Gem are holding down the fort," he told her. "They're waiting for you."

Max had been afraid of that. She gave Dalton an affectionate rub on the head, which he ducked away from, and braced herself. She could have handled Rand or Brax or even Mole but instead she was going to be dealing with a pregnant female and the mother of a four-month-old baby girl.

_What if Eve was hurt? What if Shaine's baby was hurt?_ Max stopped with her fingers clasped around the handle, butterflies suddenly dancing a tango in her stomach.

Hell hath no fury like a transgenic mother whose child has just been endangered.

"If it helps, I don't think they're gonna yell at you," Dalton told her, seeing her trepidation.

_Great. Even Dalton knows about me and Alec_, Max thought despairingly. With that in mind, Max squared her shoulders and stepped through the door, closing it behind her just as Logan and Cindy appeared.

"Hey, Max, wait!" Logan called after her but Dalton shook his head.

"She's debriefing," he replied with a respectably authoritative tone for one so young. "You can wait in there if you like." He gestured to the door on their left.

"Now hold on –" Logan protested but Cindy grabbed his arm when he tried to follow Max.

"Logan," she said sternly, backing Dalton up. "We're guests here. Now come on. Original Cindy ain't playin'."

Cindy wasn't about to take no for an answer. So far she and Max had managed to bluff their way through. Cindy had never really appreciated just how good Max was at hiding her emotions until that moment. Her friend had spent most of the trip trying valiantly not to panic, nearly breaking the bones in Cindy's hand because she was holding it so tightly.

"Now, Logan," Cindy urged again, pulling him firmly into the room Dalton had indicated. "You can talk to her later. Just give our girl some time to figure this bitch out."

Logan reluctantly allowed Cindy to drag him away. Meanwhile, Max had entered the command centre to find all eyes on her.

Gem was pacing the room, holding a sleeping Eve against her shoulder. The X5 female had only been released from the infirmary on the day of the party. Max remembered how happy Mole had been at the prospect of having Gem home with him, Dalton and Eve. They were the strangest - and closest - family unit Max had ever known.

Shaine looked up, her dark eyes sparking with anger. She had cuts all over the right side of her face and body where she'd been struck by flying shrapnel. Her dark hair was pulled back in a functional braid and she was wearing one of Brax's jackets, which seemed to swamp her smaller frame.

Shaine's no-nonsense gaze swept the room, one delicate eyebrow rising, and the transgenic personnel quickly turned their attention back to the tasks at hand.

"We were wondering when you'd show up," Gem told her, sounding exhausted but appearing unhurt. "Are you all right?"

Max nodded, chewing her lower lip anxiously. "You and Eve?"

"We're fine. Dalton had our backs," Gem assured her. Max's gaze slid to Shaine, who was watching Max as if she was making up her mind about how to react. Max's hands clenched so tightly that her nails bit into her palms.

"Where's Brax and Mole?" Max asked tentatively. Neither male was likely to be far from their mates. She was surprised that they hadn't shown up already.

"They aren't here," Gem said softly, turning worried green eyes back to her slumbering daughter. "They never showed up."

"What do you mean?" Max asked, knowing it sounded stupid even as she looked to Shaine for the answer.

"We don't know if they made it out," Shaine reiterated, the fierce glint in her eyes making it clear to Max that there would be hell to pay if Brax turned up without a pulse. "They haven't reported in yet and no-one's been able to find them."

"Rand came back from Sector Nine when he heard. He's running everything from Safehouse One," Gem informed her.

_I wasn't there, _Max thought miserably._ They might be dead and I wasn't there to help_. _This can't be happening. It just can't! God, please don't let this be our fault! Please!_

"What was Rand doing in Sector Nine?" Max asked, then shook her head quickly. "Don't answer that. I already know."

_He rode in like Galahad while Lancelot and Guinevere were doing the nasty. So much for fucking Camelot_. Max just wanted the earth to open up and swallow her whole.

"Tell me everything."

**Sector Seven, Safehouse One**

"Who's in charge here?"

The amphibious transhuman named Abe studied Alec for a long moment, frog-like eyes impassive. Alec cleared his throat when no answer was immediately forthcoming.

_In the doghouse. That's just great_, Alec thought, resigning himself to a long and horrible day. He'd kept his head down since the moment he walked in but his pride, which had already taken a beating, wasn't about to lie down and let anyone else give it a swift kick in the stomach. He met Abe's gaze unflinchingly.

"Rand. Two doors down on your left," Abe finally replied. Alec simply nodded his thanks and kept walking. He swung the appropriate door wide and strode into the centre of the room as the occupants turned to gaze at him with a myriad of expressions ranging from relief to disgust and anger.

"Where's Rand?" he asked without preamble.

"Alec."

He turned instantly to find Rand standing behind him, dressed in a black shirt and green fatigues and wearing a grim expression that Alec hadn't seen since their days at Manticore. Nevertheless, relief swamped him with the knowledge that at least one of his friends was alive and well. He reached out and clapped Rand on the shoulder.

"What the hell happened?" Alec asked, bile rising in his throat at the very thought of what he'd witnessed a short eight blocks away.

"I could ask you the same question," Rand replied, folding his arms across his chest as he regarded Alec sternly. Alec knew that look. It meant trouble for whomever it was aimed at.

_Oh God. This didn't happen because of Crash… did it?_

"Rand, come on, tell me what happened," Alec urged, almost desperate to hear it even though a tiny voice in the back of his mind already suspected the truth.

"What do you think happened, brother?" Rand asked in a tone that made Alec flinch. "Matheson hit us with everything he had. Mortars, tanks, grenade launchers – you name it, he fired it. The bastard tried to wipe us out."

"How bad is it?" Alec asked anxiously. _Just keep breathing, Alec. In and out. Come on_.

"Not everyone's been accounted for yet. We lost about thirty percent of our people as far as we can tell," Rand informed him. "Mole put up a helluva fight on the perimeter. He's the reason Brax had enough time to evacuate as many as he did."

Alec bowed his head and gritted his teeth. Thirty percent loss? He ran a quick calculation and the number staggered him. _No, no, no_…

"Where are they? Brax and Mole? And Joshua?" Alec asked hopefully. The big fella had to be okay. He would never forgive himself if he wasn't.

"Joshua's at the safehouse in Sector Three," Rand replied.

Alec exhaled in sheer relief even as another memory of Crash tugged at his conscious mind. "Slade and Quinn?" he asked finally.

"Slade's at Harbour Lights in intensive care." Rand's tone softened as he saw the anguished look in his friend's hazel eyes. "Quinn's dead."

Rand watched as that information sank in.

"Who killed him?" Alec asked weakly.

"We were hoping you could tell us," Rand replied honestly. "Cindy said Crash cleared out pretty fast after Slade fired the gun. He and Jess are the only witnesses and they haven't been able to tell us anything yet."

"Max and I were gone by then," Alec told him, running a restless hand through his rain-damp hair. "Jess was knocked out. Is she all right? Can I talk to her?"

"She's not here," Rand replied flatly. "Kestrel's got her sedated."

"_Sedated?_ What the hell for?" Alec hadn't realized that he'd raised his voice until several bystanders turned to stare at him.

"You want the list?" Rand replied sarcastically and the sick feeling in Alec's stomach suddenly intensified. "What the hell were you thinking? For Max to go anywhere except to a safehouse in her condition was universally stupid, Alec, and for you to let her was irresponsible."

"This from the guy who runs a mile every time a female goes into heat? Where the hell were you when all this was going down?" Alec snapped, lashing out without thinking.

The moment the words were out of his mouth, Alec knew he'd stepped over the line. Rand's blue eyes suddenly became ice cold. For a moment, Alec thought Rand was going to hit him and he wouldn't have raised a hand to stop him.

"I was pulling Jess out of jail," Rand replied angrily. "What's your excuse?"

_Jail? She ended up in fucking_ jail! _And Brax and Mole - he didn't answer the question! Way to go, Alec. Kick the only friend you've managed to find when he's trying to hold everything together._

"I'm sorry," Alec temporized, fighting to keep his cool. "I didn't mean that." Rand was stubborn as the devil himself. Alec couldn't afford to alienate him any more than he already had – not if he expected any genuine co-operation. He needed Rand far more than Rand needed him right then.

Rand relaxed ever-so-slightly. He was still glowering but his stance had eased a little.

"Are we finished with twenty questions for now 'cause I've got one of my own."

"Yeah, what's that?" Alec asked wearily, rubbing his sinuses.

"Where the hell is Max?"


	24. A Rock And A Hard Place

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **To those who asked if Jess knew that Max was in heat, the answer is yes. Sorry this took so long. My muse seems to like teasing me by giving me one or two chapters and then deserting me for long stretches. It's driving me up the goddamn wall.

**Chapter 24: A Rock and a Hard Place**

**Sector Seven, Safehouse One**

Max hadn't been the least bit surprised when Shaine had received a call from Rand, asking if their supposedly fearless leader had shown her face yet. Her transgenic hearing had picked up every word since Shaine hadn't bothered to leave the room.

She'd heard Rand ask to speak to her and simply held out her hand. The change in Rand's tone had been marked. With Shaine, he'd seemed calm if a little impatient. Max had flinched against the cold edge to his voice as he'd ordered her to report to Safehouse One for a debriefing.

Max hadn't even tried to argue when Shaine had decided she was going too. She'd let Cindy handle Logan. She knew that if she talked to him – _really_ talked to him – she'd fall apart and she couldn't afford to do that. Not again.

So while Logan and Cindy had been left to negotiate their ordinary way through the Sector Seven checkpoint, which had more guards than Fort Knox, the two X5 females had put their superior abilities to good use, thankful for the shroud of darkness that eased their way.

Max's senses had been on overdrive the whole time. Transgenic night vision was exceptional as a general rule but the nocturnal models were still a cut above the rest. Besides, Max figured the least she could do for the absent Brax was keep Shaine safe.

Still, she couldn't help the fleeting look of dismay on her face when Alec had stepped out into the hall and spotted her. For the space of a heartbeat, she thought she saw something in his eyes. Relief? Then the mask was back in place and Shaine had brushed past both of them, leaving them alone.

Alec shoved his hands into his pockets and cleared his throat softly. "Hey."

"Hey," Max replied, folding her arms defensively across her chest and looking anywhere but at him. For instance, the scuff marks on the floor were very interesting.

The silence stretched on, moving right past uncomfortable and rushing headlong towards being unbearable.

"So… are you okay?" he tried again.

"Fine," she said quickly. One of Alec's eyebrows quirked but he didn't contradict her.

"Rand called you in?"

"Yeah."

_Monosyllabic answers. Wonderful_, Alec thought. He usually warranted a full sentence, at the very least, if not blistering sarcasm at worst. This uncharacteristic reluctance to even acknowledge him was just… wrong.

"Will you at least look at me?" he prompted her, trying to reach the Max he knew. After all, she'd been the one who'd said they were still friends.

_God, was that really only a few hours ago?_

It felt like days or weeks. Seeing Terminal City laid to waste had shaved years off his life, he was certain of it. It still didn't seem real. He kept expecting to see Brax walk in any second and tell him to keep it in his pants next time.

Max pursed her lips and finally did as he asked, tearing her eyes away from the floor.

"There. Happy?" she asked, holding his gaze with a hint of sudden defiance.

_No_.

It was on the tip of his tongue to say so but he knew what her reaction would be. It seemed that civil, extremely short answers were the best he could hope for. He supposed he should be grateful that she wasn't after his head or other sensitive parts of his anatomy on a plate.

"It's a start," he told her instead. His expression softened and he drew in a deep breath, bracing himself. "Max… I saw what Matheson did."

She looked up at him without any urging, the anguish in her eyes reflected in his.

"I went back to Terminal City after…" He broke off, raking a restless hand through his dark blonde hair. "There's nothing left."

Max nodded, swallowing hard. "Shaine and Gem told me." Her voice was a mere whisper.

"Right."

Another awkward silence ensued.

_Fan-fucking-tastic_, Alec thought grimly. "Come on. Rand's waiting." As she moved past him, his arm brushed hers and she flinched as if he'd burned her.

That one tiny movement made him grit his teeth as he accompanied her into the control room. Rand and Shaine were already talking quietly and both looked up as Max and Alec entered.

"Hello, Max," Rand said, his tone completely neutral. His blue eyes quickly looked her up and down but his manner completely professional so she didn't let it bother her. She'd seen Zack do the same thing, weighing up the person in front of him. Rand was in full unit-leader mode and checking women out was the farthest thing from his mind.

"Have you found Brax and Mole yet?" was Max's first question.

"No, not yet," Rand replied, shaking his head grimly. "I've got the best hackers we have left working on the military databases and we're monitoring all communications. No bodies that match their descriptions have been found and as far as we can tell, they haven't been captured. Just in case, we've got units doing recon on site and reporting back anything they see. It's only a matter of time before we get a lead."

"Time is the one thing Brax and Mole don't have," Shaine pointed out. "I can't just stand around and do nothing."

"You also can't go off half-cocked," Rand cautioned her. "We have no idea where they are and until we do, we have to keep our heads down. Matheson's still out there and that son of a bitch won't stop until he finishes the job."

"Sounds like all we can do now is wait," Alec said, thought it didn't sit well with him at all.

"Waiting for what? For Matheson to mail us his barcode?" Shaine snapped.

"We'll do everything we can to get him back, Shaine," Max said firmly. "I promise."

Shaine didn't reply, the sceptical glint in her eyes making her feelings on the subject very clear.

"Shaine," Rand cut in, holding the female's gaze with his own. "_I_ promise. Good enough?"

After a moment, Shaine took a deep breath and nodded.

"Good enough," Shaine finally agreed. Max bristled, the implication that her word _wasn't_ good enough pricking her temper. Sensing the shift in her mood, Alec caught her eye and shook his head, his hazel eyes speaking as eloquently as Shaine's had.

_Not now, Maxie_.

Max's lips twisted slightly but she held her tongue. Now was not the time to aggravate Shaine, not when her mate was missing and she was in no mood to be placated.

After a few more minutes of debate, Rand had told both Max and Alec to get some sleep. They weren't any good to anyone when they were exhausted.

"Neither are you," Alec had told his friend, who'd responded with a look that could only be described as chilly. Max took advantage of their discord to slip away but Alec wasn't about to let her go that easily.

"Max, wait," Alec called after her, his longer strides allowing him to catch up swiftly.

"Why should I? They've got Rand. What do they need us for?" Max snapped as she stalked into the room she'd been assigned.

"Rand is flying on fumes, Max," Alec informed her as he shut the door behind her. "He's tired and angry. He'll get over it."

"Whatever," Max said coldly, doing her best to shut him down when she realized he wasn't going to just go away.

"What went down in there wasn't personal," he tried again.

"Yeah? Shaine rejecting my help seemed pretty personal to me," Max sniped.

"Oh, for the love of… Max, did you pay _any_ attention to inter-unit politics during your last stay at Manticore?" Alec asked, sounding a bit exasperated. "Or did you have blinders on to everything that wasn't escape-related?"

"What are you yapping about now?" Max asked waspishly.

"Trusting people in your unit was a big deal at Manticore, Max," Alec started explaining. "You had to know who had your back. Shaine was Rand's second for a lot of years. She knows he'll come through."

"And I won't? Is that it?" Max asked angrily.

"No, that's not it," Alec told her firmly, "but _we_ screwed up and _they_ paid for it, Max. Put yourself in their place and tell me you wouldn't be pissed off."

Max's shoulders slumped in defeat and she let her breath out in a rush.

"I know I'm being stupid. Don't rub it in," she pleaded ruefully.

"I don't think you're being stupid," Alec replied. "A little oversensitive, maybe."

"How comforting," Max drawled sarcastically.

"Sorry," he said ruefully, studying her face for a long moment. She looked as tired as he felt, pale and her eyes were slightly puffy, as if she'd been crying. Ironically, she still managed to look beautiful – to him, at least.

He instantly put an end to that train of thought. She'd made her feelings on that score perfectly clear. He summoned up a teasing grin, determined to put her at ease if he could. They were in this together, whether they liked it or not.

"So are you going to pitch in?" Alec asked, gesturing towards the control room but Max shook her head.

"Logan's going to arrive any minute. I've gotta talk to him," she replied and Alec blinked, not sure he'd heard her correctly. His smile faded.

"Wait a minute. You just ranted at me because you thought they didn't trust you and now you're bailing to go play house with your boyfriend?" Alec demanded in disbelief.

"I have to tell him something about what's been going on!" Max hissed. "I've been avoiding him for hours."

"Well, don't let the fact that Terminal City is dust get in the way of your love life," Alec snarked, realizing it sounded even crueller out loud than it did in his head. Max's dark eyes blazed dangerously.

"Don't you stand there and act like you're better than me!" she growled. "Like you wouldn't be running back to Jess right now if she were anywhere in the vicinity!"

"Leave her out of this!" Alec warned tensely, belatedly realizing just how ugly this argument might get before it was done.

"Oh, have I hit a nerve?" Max asked scathingly. She suddenly wanted to hurt him, wanted to make him as miserable as she was. "What, did Jess break a nail trying to keep you down?"

Alec paled and Max hesitated, a puzzled frown marring her features. She'd only ever seen that expression on Alec's handsome face once before – when he'd been sitting at Rachel Berrisford's bedside, moments before he broke down and cried.

"You don't remember?" he asked softly.

The way he said it set off alarm bells in Max's head. She instantly started sifting back through her memories of that night. Most of the peripheral stuff had fallen by the wayside once her heat had well and truly taken hold, her senses focusing solely on Alec.

"Two shots…" Max ventured thoughtfully.

"I don't know how much Shaine told you but it got pretty bad at Crash," Alec replied stiffly.

"Jess is alive, isn't she?" Max asked, pursing her lips when he didn't answer right away. "Alec?"

"She's alive," he said finally, fixing Max with a cold glare. "But I'm sure she bled enough to satisfy you."

"That's not fair!" Max yelped defensively. "How was I supposed to know?"

"By asking!" Alec shot back. "I'll bet you haven't bothered to find out about Slade and Quinn either."

"I've been trying to… to…" Max stammered to a halt, knowing nothing she could say would be good enough.

"You were trying to get your story straight so you can feed Logan a pack of lies about where you've been for the last two days," Alec finished for her, a bitter edge to his voice. "Which I'm assuming won't include _me_, right?"

"It's not that simple and you know it." Max's voice trembled slightly as she tried to stare him down. "If Logan knew –"

"Knew the truth?" Alec challenged her. "Must be great having a relationship built on lies, Max. Good luck with that one."

"Why do you even care?" Max retorted hotly. "You got what you wanted out of me!"

"What the hell would you know about what I want?" Alec demanded, green-gold eyes ablaze as he advanced on her. "I want Brax to walk through that door. I want my sister to wake up."

"Yeah, well I want to kiss my boyfriend without killing him," Max said scathingly. "We can't always get what we want."

Alec's piercing eyes seemed to burn straight through her. Nevertheless, Max squared her shoulders and matched him glare for glare. Then all the fight seemed to go out of him and Max blinked, the look on his face catching her completely off-guard.

"I guess you're right," he said thoughtfully… sadly. "Bye, Max."

With that, Alec turned and walked out of the room, leaving Max staring after him in confusion. She blinked, wondering what the hell had just happened. It wasn't like Alec to back down like that.

The weight pressing down on her chest only seemed to get heavier as the minutes ticked by. She felt like she couldn't breathe, the look in his eyes as he'd walked out still playing through her mind. She could have handled anger or frustration. Instead she'd seen something that made her heart plummet.

Regret.

He'd asked her to stay with him. Was he regretting that now? Was he regretting _her_?

"Stop it!" she growled to herself, spinning on her heel and stalking across the room. She was furious with herself. Alec had just had the gall to tear her down for making her boyfriend a priority and yet his disappointment ate away at her.

It seemed like years had passed but in truth it had only been a few short days since she'd woken up in Alec's arms after he'd nursed her through a spate of seizures and tried to bully him into cooking her breakfast.

Now everything had been ruined.


	25. Sins of Omission

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N:** To all my beautiful reviewers, YOU ROCK! Damage just exceeded Chimera's whopping 298 reviews and I'm celebrating! Wine and chocolate for everyone and a present for my 299th reviewer – _burningnostalgia_! You, my friend, get a DA gift fic – challenge me any way you like. Pick your plot, your characters – go wild! I'm feeling creative! Please reply by review, PM or e-mail. Looking forward to hearing from you!

**Chapter 25: Sins of Omission**

**Sector Seven, Safehouse One, 7am**

"_…almost forty hours ago. Not a single government department has claimed responsibility for the attack, leading investigators to believe that it may have been the work of a rogue element within the military forces that were guarding the perimeter. While the riots that resulted from such a blatant disregard for public safety have abated thanks to the swift actions of the police within that sector, the debate over transgenic rights has escalated -_"

"Turn it off," Max said with a frustrated sigh, sinking onto a chair in the control room as Dix obediently pushed the television's off switch. "It's nothing we haven't heard before." She swept her hair back over her shoulders and glanced over at the clock for the hundredth time.

A couple of minutes. That's what she'd told Alec, yet she'd spent more than half an hour pacing the lower level waiting for Logan to show up, her mind spinning circles the whole time. She'd kept picturing that look on Alec's face just before he'd walked away, his words ringing in her ears. In the end, she'd called Logan and had been relieved when Cindy told her that they were safe and still waiting at the checkpoint. Apparently the cops weren't letting anyone through without making them jump through a helluva lot of hoops first.

A part of her had been relieved. If Logan wasn't there, she didn't have to deal with him. She didn't have to see the damning look in Alec's eyes when he'd realized that she was putting her boyfriend ahead of her people.

So far, Max had managed to get an hour's shut eye and repeatedly fail to convince Rand to do the same thing - at least until Shaine had intervened. He was usually so easygoing that Max hadn't appreciated just how stubborn Rand could be. Shaine, on the other hand, had over a decade of experience dealing with him and had accomplished in about twenty minutes what Max hadn't been able to do in several hours. However, he hadn't gone quietly – he'd extracted a promise from both of them that they'd wake him if they got a lead on Brax.

Max's head was spinning with the sheer enormity of what had happened. With Alec's biting reprimand still ringing in her ears, she'd asked Shaine what had happened to Slade and Quinn. The answer had made her feel nauseas all over again.

_One dead, one potentially brain damaged_.

Suddenly Alec's anger didn't seem so unjustified and part of her just wanted to crawl into a hole and stay there. Dozens of people - her people - had been killed, slaughtered in the night because of a stupid mistake.

She should have left Crash sooner. God, she shouldn't have gone anywhere near that bar in the first place! You'd think that after ten years on the outside, after seven years of dealing with the misery of being in heat, she'd have learned to play it smart. You'd think she'd have learned to keep track of her cycles, to know when to get the hell outta Dodge until it all blew over and spare everyone the drama and heartache.

But no.

Max Guevara, the Queen of Denial, just ignored it because she didn't want to think about it. She pretended she was a normal girl with normal problems and left it to others to clean up the mess. She left it to Brax to try to keep Matheson under control, left it to Rand to pull a half-dead X5 out of jail.

She left it to Krit and Syl to help Ember, Shaine and Joshua evacuate a dozen children, including Briar, from the nursery that the dog-man had so lovingly decorated as a mortar crashed down almost on top of them, obliterating half of the building.

Max shuddered at the thought. Krit had gotten out with a concussion while Syl's shoulder had been dislocated but they were alive and that was the important thing. Shaine hadn't skimped on the details, which had only made Max feel worse. Her siblings had been in Terminal City for two days and they'd almost been killed along with their daughter.

They still had no leads on Brax and Mole and she knew that time was of the essence. The two males had already been missing for forty-eight hours, give or take. Each and every minute could be Brax or Mole's last and to top it off, Matheson was AWOL. The general had simply vanished along with several other officers and the military wasn't talking.

Max didn't like it. Her instincts told her that if they found Matheson he'd lead them to Brax and Mole. When she thought about it, it was amazing how much she'd come to depend on both of them. Even Mole's gruff demeanour had grown on her over time. It was impossible to dislike the lizard-man once you'd seen him rock Eve to sleep.

That thought made her smile despite the gravity of the situation. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even realize she was no longer alone.

"Max."

She looked up to find Shaine standing over her, looking grim.

"What is it?" Max asked, her gut clenching in anticipation of more bad news.

"Logan's here."

**Meanwhile…**

The shrill ringing of his cell-phone made Rand groan in protest. He couldn't have been lying on the bedroll for more than five minutes. Forcing his unwilling eyes to open, he checked his watch and grimaced before answering just to make the noise stop.

Yep. Five minutes.

"This had better be important or I might just have to kill somebody," he said irritably.

"_You're not much of a morning person, are you?_" Kestrel chirped in his ear.

"Kestrel," he growled warningly.

"_Take it easy. You told me to call you as soon as Jess woke up, remember?_" she reminded him. That got Rand's attention. He sat up quickly, reaching for his jacket.

"How is she?" he asked.

"_You know us Manticoreans. When the going gets tough and things look grim, we can always be counted on to shut down emotionally,_" Kestrel replied and Rand grimaced. "_Listen, has Alec shown up yet?_"

"Yeah, in all his ignorant glory," Rand replied sardonically. "Why?"

"_When I told her TC was toast, she started asking about him_."

Rand stilled with his fingers on the door handle, frowning. "She's worried about _him_?"

"_You heard me_," Kestrel said grimly. "_Don't ask me to explain it. I don't get it either_. _Can you get him on the phone or not?_"

"I'll call you back," Rand said grudgingly, flinging the door open to stalk down the hall in search of Alec.

**A few minutes later…**

Max stood outside the door, anxiously chewing her lower lip. Logan was waiting on the other side. She could hear him pacing slowly back and forth across the room. She could also hear Cindy muttering half-hearted platitudes to keep him from searching the building for her.

_Come on, Max. Open the door and talk to him_, she thought, squaring her shoulders as she tried, yet again, to think of what she could possibly say that he might believe. _Hi Logan. How are you? Me? Oh, I'm fine. You know, trying to clean up the mess I made by spending two days making hot-monkey-love to Alec. Oh God. I can't do this_.

Then the door opened and she found herself staring up into Logan's surprised face. He blinked and smiled.

"Max, hey," Logan said affectionately, his blue eyes wandering over her face.

"Hey," Max said weakly, shifting uncomfortably under his scrutiny.

"Do you want to come in?" Logan prompted her, stepping aside.

"Sure," Max squeaked, darting inside before she could think of an excuse to leave. Cindy immediately got to her feet and cleared her throat.

"Original Cindy's gonna check out the lay o' the land," she told them as she headed towards the exit. "Later."

Left alone with her not-like-that boyfriend, Max ran a self-conscious hand through her long dark hair. "So…"

"How're you holding up?" Logan asked in concern, immediately making Max feel worse.

"Not so good," she told him honestly. "You?"

"I've been worried," he told her gently. "Mostly about you. When I heard what the military was doing, I tried to contact you but I never got a response. Looking for you at Cindy's was a last resort."

"I wondered what you were doing there so late," she said, trying to give him a smile and failing miserably.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" Logan asked, moving closer so that Max had to tilt her head up to look at him. She opened her mouth but nothing came out. "Max?"

_Must be nice having a relationship built on lies, Max. Good luck with that one_. Alec's scathing remark echoed in her ears. She tried to push it out of her mind but it wouldn't budge.

"Logan…" she breathed. His brow furrowed, his blue eyes clouding with unease.

"Max, what's wrong?" he persisted carefully. "Whatever it is, you can tell me."

_No, I can't_, Max thought desperately even as the sinking feeling in her stomach told her otherwise. If she lied to Logan now, she'd keep doing it._ Oh God, Alec, I _hate_ you for this_.

"Logan, I'm so sorry. I, um… I went into…" she stammered, avoiding Logan's eyes as if that would make it any easier. "I mean, the whole cat thing…"

"Wait, you went into heat?" he asked. "So you weren't even in Terminal City when the bombs fell?"

_He doesn't know I was at Crash. He thinks I was at a safehouse_, Max realized. "Not exactly but –"

"Thank God," Logan said in relief but Max shook her head.

"No, Logan, listen to me," she said in a rush, bracing herself for what she was about to do even though she felt like dissolving into tears at the thought. "I was at Crash."

"You went back there?" Logan asked in bewilderment. "Why? The place was completely trashed."

_Is he deliberately missing the point!_ Max thought in despair. "No, I was there when the fight started," she corrected him quickly. "Logan… I'm the reason the fight started."

Logan's face fell as her meaning became clear and Max's heart immediately sank into her toes.

"You were…? So Slade and Quinn… they were fighting over you?" he asked tentatively, clearly hoping she'd turn around and tell him he was wrong. Max nodded hesitantly in response.

"But they were both still at Crash when the cops arrived," he pointed out. "Where were you?"

Max's dark eyes widened, giving her the look of a deer in headlights. Logan's relatively calm expression faltered when she didn't answer immediately, realization dawning within moments.

"Who was he?" Logan asked, sounding strangled.

Max would later swear that her heart had stopped beating when Logan asked the dreaded question. She baulked. The look in Logan's eyes was wrenching.

"Nobody." Her tongue stumbled over the lie and she prayed that Logan hadn't noticed. "Just a guy. I'd never met him before." Her mind summoned up images of wicked green-gold eyes, taunting her with the truth. Her voice broke as she rushed onwards. "Logan, I'm so sorry."

"Max, I don't know what to say," Logan confessed, backing away slightly.

"I know," Max whispered, fighting back tears as she fled the room, Logan's shout echoing in her ears.

"_Max!_"

**Meanwhile…**

The feeling of being nudged rather rudely in the ribs brought Alec back to the waking world. His hazel eyes snapped open to find Rand standing over him, dangling a cell phone in front of his face.

"Kestrel wants you to call her."

With a groan, Alec reached out and took the phone from Rand, pressing in the number from memory without even bothering to ask why. It rang a few times before anyone picked up.

"_Yeah?_" Kestrel said quickly.

"You rang?"

"_One sec_." He heard a bit of fumbling as the phone changed hands and sighed.

"_Alec?_"

"Jessie?" Alec pounced the moment he locked on to her voice. "I was worried about you. Are you all right?"

"_Hey, baby brother_," Jess drawled, sounding far too tired for Alec's peace of mind. "_Good to have you back_."

"Are you all right?" Alec persisted, noting thatRand had settled in with his back against the wall so he could glower at Alec whenever the urge struck him, his arms crossed over his chest. Alec ignored him, choosing instead to focus on the telephone. "Rand said they had you sedated."

"_Couple of dents in the fender, Al. It's all good. Sari just didn't want me bouncing around pulling my stitches_," Jess replied ruefully. "_That girl worries way too much_."

Relief washed over Alec. Even knowing she'd been shot up and arrested, hearing her voice with a hint of its usual humour immediately made him feel better.

"Listen, Jessie, I'm so sorry about what happened at Crash," he told her, oblivious to the way Rand stiffened behind him. "You know I didn't mean to –"

"_Relax, Al. It's not the first beating I've taken and knowing my luck it probably won't be the last_," she told him. "_I walked – well, okay, I limped – away in one piece so you can stop torturing yourself_. _Just give me a couple of days and I'll be right as rain_."

Alec thought her voice trembled slightly, belying her devil-may-care attitude, but he also knew she was right. She'd taken a beating or two at Manticore and always gave as good as she got. Besides, the sedatives were probably still wearing off.

"Listen, I'll swing by as soon as I can, okay?" he offered.

"_You don't have to check up on me_," she assured him.

"I want to," he told her.

"_It's really not necessary_," she cautioned him. "_Besides, you've got bigger fish to fry_."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were stalling me, Jessie," Alec said shrewdly, picking up on her unusual hesitation.

Silence.

Alec frowned. "Jessie?"

"_Uh… sorry, I got distracted_," she stammered quickly. "_Look, I'm fine. Don't worry about me_."

"What can I say? Old habits die hard," he joked and was rewarded by a soft chuckle on the other side of the line.

"_Schmuck. I'm supposed to watch your back, remember?_" she grumbled, making Alec smile.

"You're really okay?" he asked, knowing he sounded a little paranoid.

"_Yes, I'm really okay_," she replied patiently. "_Scout's honour_."

"Good," Alec said affectionately.

"_Now get back to work_," she chided him kindly and the call abruptly ended. With a sigh, he turned and found Rand glaring at him.

"What?" Alec asked impatiently. Rand just shook his head in disgust as he reclaimed the cell phone.

"I thought you knew better than to buy into her bullshit."

**Sector Nine, Safehouse Five**

Kestrel glared down incredulously at the black-and-blue blonde sitting on the bedroll even as Sari signalled rapidly at her to stay quiet.

"What the hell was that?" Kestrel asked, staring at Jess in blatant disbelief. "_A couple of dents in the fender_? Are you fucking kidding me?"

Jess met Kestrel's dark eyes. Her light-hearted bravado had faded as quickly as it had been summoned only to be replaced with the impassive mask that so many Manticoreans wore.

"Do I look like I'm in a joking mood?" Jess asked, her tone decidedly cool.

"You were almost killed," Kestrel reminded her harshly, her outrage overriding any semblance of sensitivity. "Look what they did to you. Look what Quinn did to you!"

"He doesn't need to know," Jess shot back angrily.

"The hell he doesn't," Kestrel argued as Jess looked up at her, the blue-green eyes boring into Kestrel's darker ones.

"Alec doesn't find out," Jess repeated grimly. "Ever. Got it?"

Kestrel glanced over at Sari, who gave a helpless shrug. Both women knew that they didn't have the right to broadcast what had happened – not without Jess's permission.

With a taut nod, Kestrel grudgingly relented.

"Got it."


	26. The Limits of Forgiveness

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**Chapter 26: The Limits of Forgiveness**

**Sector Seven, Safehouse One, 8am**

Logan sat in front of his laptop computer, only half-concentrating on the information displayed on the screen. The rest of his attention was focused on the newest spanner Fate had thrown into the workings of his relationship with Max. He'd thought that he had a handle of the whole heat-scenario. That long-ago night in his penthouse, Max had confessed her sin and so much more.

_I hate it_, she'd told him, her dark eyes haunted as she put down the wine glass. _I hate that this happens to me_.

In his privacy of his mind, every detail had been rationalized and planned. It should have been simple. They'd beat this 'virus bitch' – as Max so aptly put it – and then whenever her cycle came around, he could help her through it. She'd never have to be ashamed of it again and they could make it something they could share, something intimate and completely unlike any of her previous disastrous experiences.

Something special.

Yet it hadn't turned out that way. It had been more than a year since Director Renfro had turned Max into his own personal Typhoid Mary and they still hadn't found a cure, though if he was honest with himself he knew that Max hadn't been putting much effort into the search recently. Too much had happened too quickly over the last few months and their look-but-don't-touch status had been shoved into the back of her mind.

He could forgive her for that. He understood it. In the time he'd known her, Max had developed a habit of taking responsibility for other people's problems and occasionally their lives as well. It was one of the things he loved about her – her amazing capacity to care. Getting under her skin was no mean feat but once someone had earned a place in her life, she'd fight until the end to keep that person safe.

Logan Cale considered himself to be one of a very lucky few in that regard. Max protected and led the people of Terminal City, her transgenic brethren, yet only a handful of people could claim to be truly close to her. Original Cindy, naturally, was one. Even Sketchy had managed to find his own little niche.

The only one Logan had never been completely comfortable with was Alec.

One some level, Logan had always perceived X5-494 as a threat. After all, Alec was still an assassin even if he had screwed up the Berrisford mission. Yet it was more than that. Call it instinct but Logan had never completely trusted Alec's motives where Max was concerned. She was a stunningly beautiful young woman and Alec had made it clear that he enjoyed luring members of the opposite sex into his bed.

Thankfully, Max had proven immune to Alec's particular brand of charm. Barcode number aside, the fact that Alec was physically indistinguishable from Max's brother Ben had helped in that regard. Logan knew that Max had blamed herself for not saving Ben though he doubted there was anything she could have done to stop Lydecker's forces from killing the twisted young X5.

When Max had admitted that she'd gone into heat at Crash, he'd felt like she'd gut-punched him. He'd tried to stay calm, to be logical. He knew Slade and Quinn hadn't left with her but that begged the obvious question: Where had Max gone for the better part of two days and had she been alone?

He tapped the keyboard a few more time and sighed.

The look on her face had told him that his fears had been realized and for a moment he'd been on the verge of blurting out "Was it Alec?"

Instead, he'd choked out something that sounded like "Who was he?"

He didn't know why it made him feel better that it had been a total stranger. It was completely irrational. The love of his life had slept with another man. Again. End of story.

Except that it wasn't.

Max had told him that she hated the things heat made her do. _It wasn't me_, she'd said and Logan had honestly tried to believe that the intent behind the sexual act made a difference. The first time he'd forgiven her immediately, unable to withstand the tortured look on her singularly beautiful face but now…

Max loved him. He knew that for a fact but was that really enough? Would this keep happening? He didn't know if he could handle it if there was a third incident or a fourth. The knowledge that he was the only man in the world that _couldn't_ touch Max – period – had been eating away at him for months but on two occasions some random guy had caught her at the worst possible time and taken advantage of her vulnerability.

With a frustrated groan, Logan removed his glasses and rubbed at his tired eyes. He'd been doing this for the last hour – trying to justify what had happened. When he'd reported to the makeshift tech room with his laptop, Dix hadn't said a word. The beady-eyed transhuman had simply cleared a space for him and brought him up the speed on the progress the transgenic hackers had made so far in their search for Brax and Mole.

Logan hadn't been entirely sure how much help he was going to be in his present frame of mind but he'd figured the least he could do was try. Mole might not be his favourite person on Earth but Brax was generally nice enough. Neither of them deserved to die at the hands of an animal like Anthony Matheson.

Though Matheson had undoubtedly hoped to obliterate the transgenics, his unauthorized attack had not only failed to kill the majority of Terminal City's residents but it had a dramatic effect on public opinion. The 'mutants' were suddenly being portrayed as victims and the people of Seattle were suddenly split down the middle.

Half had suddenly decided that the 'mutant freaks' were being victimized while the rest cried out for the military to finish the job Matheson had started. One thing was for sure – Eyes Only had his work cut out for him. What had happened was tragic but Logan was beginning to wonder if it was for the best.

If losing thirty percent of the transgenic population saved the remaining seventy, did that make it worth the sacrifice? If Brax and Mole had been killed, would it really have been in vain? Their children would live even though they hadn't. Would that be enough?

Logan knew Max would never see it that way. She'd lost so many loved ones already – Eva, Zack, Brin… He'd never been so ashamed as the moment when he heard that an attack had been launched against TC and for one incredibly selfish second, he'd hoped Alec was in there.

Things always seemed to boil down to one sociopathic X5 male being the source of the problem. Logan didn't know what he would have done if Max had slept with Alec instead of some average Joe.

_Slept? Yeah right_.

That simple thought triggered Logan's already overactive imagination and he screwed his eyes shut, knowing it was useless. The image danced cruelly behind his eyelids, making his gut clench painfully.

With a scowl, Logan forced himself to concentrate on the task at hand. He had almost all of his sources on alert, poised to report to him if they heard so much as a whisper about Matheson's whereabouts. Sadly, he had the sinking feeling that if the efforts of super-intelligent transgenic hackers and every available transgenic scouring the city couldn't find Brax and Mole, he wasn't going to fare any better.

Then he opened an e-mail containing information from one of the informants.

Logan blinked owlishly at the screen and the slow smile spread across his features.

"Gotcha."

**Meanwhile…**

"You look like you could use a pep talk."

Max looked up to find Shaine standing behind her with two mugs in her grasp, one of which she deposited into Max's waiting hands. Once again, Shaine had managed to sneak up on her.

"Thanks," Max said, sipping it gratefully as Shaine curled up opposite her on a chair that had seen better days, Brax's jacket still wrapped around her smaller frame.

"We don't have any coffee but I figured you wouldn't need it. You know, shark DNA an' all," Shaine said, pushing a stray tendril of dark hair back behind her ear.

"Yeah," Max said ruefully. "Shouldn't you be trying to get some sleep? I don't mind pulling a double shift."

"If one more person tells me to go to bed I swear I'll kill them," Shaine retorted. She stared down into her own mug, watching the steam swirl up into the air. "I can't sleep," she finally confessed. "I've tried but I just keep thinking about Brax."

"Do you have any idea what happened to him after the attack started?" Max asked gently. Shaine shook her head, a distant look in her dark eyes.

"It wouldn't be so bad if I knew that he was alive but… I've spent the last couple of days going crazy. We should have found a lead by now. Something. _Anything_."

Max nodded in complete understanding. Her mind had been pretty chaotic ever since she'd walked away from Alec and it had only gotten worse as she discovered what had befallen her friends and family.

"Rand's pretty pissed off, huh?" Max ventured, hoping she hadn't misjudged Shaine's mood.

"He's not angry at you, Max. He's just angry, full stop," Shaine informed her obligingly. "Just be thankful you're not in Alec's shoes right now. Rand's giving him hell."

Max's brows drew together in a puzzled frown. "Rand's blaming Alec?"

"I don't really know but there's somethin' weird going on there," Shaine mused. "I know he's worried about Brax but he's pretty wound up. He's even talking to Kestrel – politely, for the most part, if you can believe it."

"Do they hate each other because of the breeding program?" Max asked curiously. She'd wondered at the blatant animosity between Rand and Kestrel more than once but she'd never actually broached the subject before.

"That's putting it lightly," Shaine told her. "They had a bad experience. _Really_ bad. Rand ended up in solitary for a month. They almost stripped his rank."

_Solitary for a month?_ Max had spent a fortnight in 'the pit' during her most recent stay at Manticore and that had been one of the worst experiences of her life. The thought of spending an entire month there was horrifying. She itched to know exactly what Rand had done to earn such a punishment but she also sensed that Shaine wasn't going to be any more explicit than that. Reluctantly, Max let the subject drop.

"You know, Max, I still get scared when I go into heat," Shaine told her after a minute's pause. "Sometimes even when other females go into heat."

"Why? You're mated," Max asked, caught off guard by the change of subject.

"Yeah, I am," Shaine agreed. "But what if there was a fight and Brax lost? Or if he wasn't there? I don't know if I'd be strong enough to say no to whoever _was_ there. In some ways, it makes the whole thing worse."

Max softened as she began to understand Shaine's point. After all, she considered herself mated to Logan… didn't she?

"When Cody went into heat, I had to sucker punch Brax to get him out of there," Shaine continued. "If I hadn't been there, who's to say he wouldn't have ended up sleeping with her instead of me?"

"Is this your way of telling me this whole mess might not be my fault?" Max asked, trying to crack a smile without success. "I'm not buying that line, Shaine, and neither is anyone else."

"Maybe," Shaine replied cryptically. "Look, we know you would never have done anything like that intentionally. It's just… "

"Hard," Max supplied with a soft sigh. "I know. I'm sorry."

Both young women sipped their milk quietly, lost in thought. The minutes ticked by one by one. All had been quiet for several hours now. Max's shift had been punctuated only by the scheduled progress reports of the transgenics scattered across Seattle.

"Do you think Brax would understand if something like that happened?" Max asked, chewing her lower lip anxiously as she waited for the answer.

"I know he'd try," Shaine replied thoughtfully. "He'd probably kill the guy in question but he'd try."

"Max!"

The two women turned to find Dix bearing down on them.

"What is it?" Max asked quickly, all thoughts of her personal life momentarily pushed aside.

"Logan tracked Matheson down."

"Where?" Shaine asked, jumping to her feet.

"Sector Three."


	27. Always All Right

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**Chapter 27: Always All Right**

**Sector Nine, Outside Safehouse Five**

"We move out in ten, people," Max advised, pushing her sunglasses up onto the top of her head as she got off her beloved Ninja motorcycle. "This is just a pit stop."

The group of transgenics obediently dispersed, taking different routes into the safehouse building to avoid rousing any unwanted interest.

Alec wasn't sure whether it was a good thing that Rand stayed by his side, considering his rather hostile attitude. He was pleasantly surprised though when they were safely inside. Rand stopped beside him and glanced pointedly from Alec to the staircases.

"She's on the top floor," he said quietly, as if he'd read Alec's mind, and moved away the moment the words were spoken.

Alec looked over at Max, who'd just arrived from a different direction. She caught his eye and nodded, effectively dismissing him. He didn't need any further encouragement. He jogged his way up the stairs.

Rand's comment about buying 'Jess's bullshit' had rattled Alec more than he was comfortable admitting. Worse, Rand had clammed up when Alec had asked him what the hell he meant by implying Jess wasn't being completely truthful. He had a horrible, sneaking suspicion that he was missing something important and he didn't like it at all.

"What the hell are you doing up here?"

The question, which bordered on accusing, brought Alec up short and he turned to find Kestrel glaring up at him.

"Where's Jess?"

Kestrel eyed him mutinously, as if she was inwardly debating the wisdom of granting his request. Alec regarded her quizzically, wondering why such a simple request required serious thought.

_What the hell is going on?_ he wondered, his frustration building.

"Last room on the right," she finally told him, turning away as if he was of no further importance. Under any other circumstances, Alec might have been insulted but he had a time limit. He found the appropriate door and stuck his head inside.

"Jessie?"

She looked up, startled, and for a moment Alec thought he saw a flicker of alarm in her blue-green eyes. But it was gone as quickly as it had appeared and her lips curved upwards into a welcoming, if somewhat brittle, smile.

"Hey, baby brother. Are you all right?" she asked as she held out her hand to him. Alec almost grinned as he pulled her up onto her feet.

"That's supposed to be my line," he said with a touch of humour.

"Answer the question, Alec," she insisted, her bruised eyes meeting his. He sighed and shook his head a little.

"I've been better," he replied at last, taking in her appearance. There was a great deal of swelling and bruising over one side of her face. Alec distinctly remembered his elbow causing the damage. Beneath the rather loose black t-shirt and grey track-pants she was wearing, he could make out the bulk of bandages on her shoulder and thigh – the work of bullets meant for him.

She saw the direction of his gaze and shifted slightly, summoning up an unconvincing smile. "Don't sweat it, Al. It's mostly cosmetic damage."

"Jess, are you sure –"

"I thought I heard the Bandit," Jess mused, cutting him off. "I'd wondered if you got it back."

"Jess –"

"Is Max here with you?" she continued as if he hadn't spoken.

Alec's frown deepened. "Yes, she is and stop changing the subject."

"I wasn't –"

"_Jessie_."

"I'm fine," Jess insisted with a small shrug, her manner dismissive. "I got into a fight and came out second best. It happens. It's no big deal."

_Liar_, his subconscious whispered insidiously.

"Jessie, what's going on?" Alec asked, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach warning him that his first instinct had been right - there was something he still didn't know. She was being evasive. "What aren't you telling me?"

Jess winced, her teeth digging into her lower lip. She'd been dreading that question. A bald-faced lie wasn't going to cut it. Alec knew her far too well. He'd see through it in a heartbeat. Taking a deep breath, she braced herself and told him as much of the truth as she dared – just enough to be believable.

"I killed Quinn."

Alec's lips thinned as he processed that. Speculation had been rife over who had slain the well-liked X5 male – the velocity model currently on life support or the stealth model who'd been dragged off by the cops. Alec knew how vicious mate fights could get but until the incident at Crash they'd managed to keep casualties to a minimum.

He also knew Jess had never liked killing, though she had no qualms if it became necessary. They were alike in that regard. Keeping his voice neutral, he asked the inevitable question.

"What happened?"

"Pretty simple," Jess replied, though he noticed that she was avoiding his eyes. "It got ugly. Two against one with bullets in my leg and shoulder isn't exactly my idea of a good time."

Alec winced, the memory flashing through his mind for the thousandth time. "I'm sorry," he said, chewing his lower lip and she gave him a puzzled look.

"What for?"

"For hurting you," he said, as if it should have been obvious. He gestured towards her face. "Look at this. I…"

"You weren't yourself, Alec." She exonerated him with four little words. "So stop apologizing. It's water under the bridge. Besides, getting my ass handed to me every once in a while keeps me humble."

Alec guffawed at the idea of Jess being humble in any way, shape or form.

"So Kestrel tells me you guys have a lead on Brax and Mole," Jess said, neatly bringing the conversation back to a safer topic.

"Logan came through," Alec replied, his tone deceptively even. "We're headed out to Sector Three now. We just stopped to pick up a few more volunteers."

"Logan, huh?" she prompted him carefully, reading him like a book. Focusing on him was a welcome relief.

"Yeah, Max brought him along," he said, raking a hand through his dark blonde hair. "She went back to him. Again. Big surprise there."

"Are you all right?" she asked, not believing his flippant attitude for a second.

"I'm always all right," he said, flashing a devil-may-care grin that didn't reach his eyes. "Anyway, I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Of course I'm okay," she told him firmly. "We're part cat, remember? Nine lives. By my count, I've got about five to go before you have to worry."

"I'll remember that," Alec said, only half-teasing as he looked first at his watch and then over at the door. "I've gotta go."

"Alec..."

"Yeah?"

"Come back in one piece, you hear me?" The strangely plaintive note in her voice tugged at him and he turned to look at her again. Her blue-green eyes were wide, vulnerable, and Alec was far from immune. His mouth curved upwards into his trademark confident smirk.

"I'll be back before you know it," he assured her. "I promise." Alec drew her into a hug but instantly released her when she stiffened and let out a gasp of pain.

"Broken ribs," she explained through clenched teeth.

"Mostly cosmetic damage, huh?" Alec asked dryly.

"Mostly," she agreed sheepishly.

"Hmm." He eyed her knowingly but she just gave him a half-playful push towards the door.

"Get going or Max'll have your ass on a plate. We'll talk after it's done."

**Sector Three, Safehouse Eight, Half an Hour Later**

"Hey, Big Fella," Max said affectionately, reaching up to hug the dog-faced giant known as Joshua. "Are you okay?"

"Hey, Little Fella," he replied, happily returning the hug. "All okay. Worried about Max and Alec."

Max didn't doubt for a second that he was telling the truth. Joshua was one of the most selfless people she'd ever met. She could see that he hadn't walked away unscathed from TC's destruction. A long, jagged gash that ran along his hairline and down his cheek had been stitched up and he had cuts on his hands identical to those on Shaine's face – the result of flying shrapnel.

Most of the people she'd seen had similar injuries. The relief she'd felt when she'd been able to hug Krit and Syl and see for herself that they were okay had been enormous. Syl's shoulder had healed up nicely and she and her better half had insisted on being part of the rescue operation. It seemed that they'd taken a liking to Brax though she didn't know how or when they'd met him.

"Are you babysitting for us?" she asked warmly, knowing how much Joshua loved the innocent company of the children. Though the dog-man could fight if the situation called for it, he was a gentle soul and didn't like combat.

"Yes. Ember wants to go," Joshua replied. "Promised Gem she would."

"Thanks, Big Fella."

Joshua nodded and smiled at her, stepping aside so she could do her duty.

Max looked around the room at the soldiers under her command – transgenics and transhumans alike - and felt a surge of pride. In the last two-and-a-half days, they'd all been to hell and back but they were still standing and ready to do whatever was necessary to save two of their people if it was at all possible.

Krit and Syl hadn't even been in Terminal City for a full twenty-four hours before it was destroyed yet they had granted her their support immediately. Jett and Ember stood side by side on the other side of the table, looking grim but determined. Rand and Shaine were on their right, operating completely in synch with each other after more than a decade as unit leader and second-in-command.

Finally, Alec stood beside her, his arms folded across his chest, looking every inch the commander Max knew he had become. She detected no hint of anger, worry or sorrow in his hazel-green eyes. Instead, he was completely focused on the task at hand. Seeing for himself that Jess was all right seemed to have done the trick.

Max had a few things she wanted to discuss with the blonde herself but that, like everything else, had become a secondary concern. Brax and Mole were their highest priority.

"Did Logan send the information through?" Max asked Alec quietly.

"Yeah, Jett broke it down and Rand briefed them, "Alec replied. "We're good to go."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Max asked, earning an approving look from Alec.

"Ladies first," he said suavely, gesturing for her to precede him.

"Then by all means, go ahead," she said sarcastically. The familiar banter came easily and she was rewarded by a twitch of his mobile lips and for a second, the tension between them eased.

"Yes, sir."


	28. Never Say Die

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N:** Ouch. After being informed yet again that Jess suffers from "Mary-Sue-Syndrome", I decided to take a step back and look at my creation as objectively as possible. I was promptly horrified by the results and I apologize profusely to my readers, who deserve _so_ much better from me. I'm gonna tone it down after _Damage_, I promise!

**Warning:** This chapter contains flashbacks. I know it's short. Next one will be longer.

**Chapter 28: Never Say Die**

**Undisclosed Location**

_How long?_

Slumped against the cold iron wall of his prison, Mole didn't have the strength to voice those two simple words. The lethargy in his limbs that just wouldn't go away testified to the fact that he was under the influence of some chemical cocktail or other and a strong one at that.

_Probably a fuckin' animal tranquilizer_, he thought bitterly, knowing what these lunatics thought of his kind.

In the time since he'd woken and opened his eyes just a crack, he hadn't seen Brax anywhere.

But he'd heard him.

_"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he demanded, hearing the ominous sound of more mortars firing as Brax grimly loaded the Glock pistol he favoured and shoved two spare clips into his back pockets. The kid looked up at him with the cold confidence of a transgenic with murder on his mind._

_"I'm gonna show that son-of-a-bitch what happens when you attack me and mine. Are you coming or not?"_

_Mole regarded him for a moment, clearly weighing the odds. Brax had ordered most of Mole's surviving perimeter guards to get out of the hot zone, leaving only a few to lay down cover fire._

_"Two against Matheson's goons?" Mole asked, a predatory grin wreathing his reptilian features. "I'm in."_

_"Take out as many as you like but I want Matheson," Brax told him, thrusting a semi-automatic into Mole's hands. "Forget the shotgun. We can't afford the reload time."_

It hadn't been a bad plan, Mole thought with a grimace. The element of surprise had been on their side. Years ago, he'd heard Lydecker tell one of Manticore's backers that any one of his kids could take out a whole human platoon without breaking a sweat. Mole knew it was true – he'd done it himself a time or two.

The distance between the remains of the building they'd been using for cover and the military wasn't really that great. They'd used tanks to tear down the perimeter fence and destroy the outermost buildings, hoping to obliterate TC's first line of defence before they'd launched the mortars.

Mole had to give the devil his due. Matheson had played it smart. Those in the perimeter guard who'd survived that unexpected, synchronised onslaught had been forced to fall back. Mole would bet his life that the majority of casualties TC had suffered had occurred in that first thirty seconds.

Had Gem and Eve gotten out? The unanswerable question tormented him. What about Dalton?

With a soft growl, Mole willed his limbs to move, to obey his instructions. He didn't get any further than a slight shift in position, one that made his shattered knee twist painfully. He screwed his eyes shut and took a deep breath, detaching himself from the pain the way they'd been taught.

Another wrenching scream echoed through the building and Mole gritted his teeth. He was anticipating much the same treatment, if not worse, once they realized he was conscious.

He had no idea where they were. No noises penetrated the thick walls to give him a clue, no matter how small it might have been. All he knew was that sound carried in this place and every scream torn from Brax's throat made him flinch.

**Sector Three**

Max crouched on the corner of a ten-storey building, unconcerned by the drizzle that was currently soaking Seattle. Sharp eyes scanned the factory below, her telescopic vision and the darkly swirling sky allowing her to spy at her leisure with little chance of being spotted in return.

_Wonderful_, she thought in disgust. _They actually put a decent number of guards on duty_.

She raised her head and looked over to her left, where Alec was waiting in an identical position a couple of buildings over. He made a couple of crisp hand-signals, which she answered, and he nodded in understanding.

He never ceased to amaze her. She respected the fact that he'd readily put aside the numerous personal issues making mincemeat of their… what? Friendship? Relationship? She sighed and shook her head. Whatever it was, he hadn't hesitated to offer a truce for the duration of the rescue, for which she was profoundly grateful.

Focusing on the task at hand, Max turned to her right and signalled to Syl, knowing that the message would be passed along swiftly. They weren't taking any chances on being picked up. They were operating on radio silence until they were ready to move.

Max wondered if it was some requirement in the Bad Guys Handbook that they had to hide out in abandoned factories and warehouses and the like. Based on that theory, they'd run out of places to hide pretty soon. She'd already busted into a majority of them, first for Eyes Only and later when she was chasing White's ass all over the city saving mermaids and other exotic creatures that Manticore had dreamed up.

She'd been so relieved when Logan had found Matheson's location. It brought them one step closer to Brax and Mole and right now that was all she cared about. She wanted those two safe though she doubted they'd be able to fill the 'sound' criteria after being in enemy hands for more than two days.

Injuries would heal in time. Death, on the other hand, was irreversible and completely unacceptable to Max. She'd lost too many people she loved already.

_No way am I losing anyone else_.

The entire complex was surrounded by transgenics and transhumans, each cataloguing everything they saw. Logan was still in Sector Seven, awaiting a feed into the closed-circuit surveillance system they'd discovered. That task had fallen to Ember and the redhead had vanished like a ghost into the factory several minutes earlier. A lone transgenic could easily evade the guards Max and the other observers had been tracking. Storming the proverbial castle was going to take planning if they wanted to get to Brax and Mole out alive. There was always the chance that their captors would kill them.

Max refused to contemplate failure.

**Undisclosed Location**

"Well, well. Look who's decided to join us."

Mole's eyelids rose slowly, belying the stab of alarm he'd felt as he recognized the owner of that chilling voice. For a moment, he could feel the bullet tearing through the flesh and bone of his leg, felt the electricity arcing through his body as tasers hit him from all sides.

"Fuck… you…" Mole managed to rumble, the blaze of defiance in his eyes not as threatening as it might have been were he able to move, let alone stand.

"I think not," Ames White said smugly. "I trust your accommodations are to your liking. Your kind always did belong in a cage."

Mole's lip curled into a sneer, his reptilian teeth flashing in the dim light.

_"On your knees," Mole growled, holding the gun directly in line with the back of the General's greying head._

_"You have no idea who you're dealing with," Matheson told them calmly._

_"What makes you think we care?" Brax snapped harshly. "On. Your. Knees."_

_The general complied slowly, his eyes never leaving Brax's._

_"If you kill me, they'll only send someone else," Matheson warned ominously and Brax's eyes narrowed at the implication in that simple sentence._

"Tell me what I want to know and I'll kill you quickly," White said smoothly, completely unperturbed by the tortured cries reverberating through the building. "If you don't, you're next in line and Sorensen's been itching to get his hands on something like you."

"Bite me," Mole growled, borrowing one of Max's favourite phrases. White's lips curved upward ever-so-slightly, clearly amused by his prisoner's refusal to capitulate.

"Where are the transgenics hiding?" he persisted.

Mole didn't bother to answer a third time, letting his silence speak for him.

"Have it your way," White sighed as he turned to the guards standing a few feet away and nodded. "But I will get what I want."

The Familiars surged forward and unlocked the cell, dragging Mole out and shocking him to ensure his submission.

_"Familiars," Brax realized, his anger building. He pressed the barrel of his pistol against the man's forehead. "Well, I'll be sure to send them your regards."_

_The single gunshot was lost in the chaos surrounding them._


	29. Into The Fire

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**Chapter 29: Into The Fire**

**Sector Seven, Safehouse One**

Logan sat at his computer, monitoring all information and camera feeds as they were transmitted to him by Dix and Luke, sitting in their mobile base of operations in Sector Three. He'd wanted to go with them but it was currently taking hours at a time to go through any checkpoints that led to other Sectors. Max couldn't afford to wait for him, so he'd compromised.

Ember had done her job well, hooking them into the CCTV network the military had set up in the place where they were holding their Manticorean prisoners. He could now see every area of the building.

Including Brax and Mole.

Max had insisted on radio silence so she only knew the prisoners' location. Logan wondered briefly if that was such a good idea. Surely forewarned was forearmed, right? Then again, she had more firsthand knowledge of war than he did. She could probably imagine, quite accurately, what kind of condition the two captives would be in.

Nonetheless, the footage made Logan squirm uncomfortably. There was no way Mole could walk and Logan couldn't even tell if Brax was breathing. They simply laid on the concrete floor, awaiting their fate.

For a moment, he wondered if that was what the Familiars would do to Max if they ever got their grimy hands on Sandeman's 'special one'. Somehow he doubted it. It wasn't her knowledge that they wanted. It was the information coded into her DNA, the unique genetic sequencing that Manticore's founder had believed would one day save the world.

As if saving her people over and over wasn't demanding enough.

Not that he could ever talk her into stopping. It was one of the traits that he admired in Max – her fierce loyalty to those she cared for. As long as she breathed, she'd fight to keep her menagerie safe. She'd fought for him more times than he could count.

Yet this was one fight he couldn't be a part of.

**Sector Three, The Factory**

Max waited until Alec and Syl had finished relaying the silent, signalled messages from the rest of the team. Everyone was ready, the security feed had been established and Logan had located Brax and Mole.

Max looked first at Alec, then Syl, making sure she had their attention before she signalled them to move on her count.

_Five, four, three_…

_We're coming, guys_, she thought grimly, looking up at the depressingly grey horizon.

…_two, one_.

Max leaned over the side of the building, judged the distance and jumped. She caught the ledge two storeys down and let herself drop in that fashion until she reached the ground, landing silently like the cat she partially was.

Moving like the predators they were, the soldiers of the Freak Nation advanced on the building from all sides. Ironically, it occurred to Max that it was a shame that Lydecker wasn't there to witness 'his kids' realizing their potential. He'd probably have enjoyed such a spectacle.

Max cleared the fence easily, secure in the knowledge that Logan, Dix and Luke would make sure they weren't seen by unwanted eyes. They'd decided to operate in pairs, each one removing any possible sources of resistance while she and Alec retrieved Brax and Mole.

Alec appeared smoothly at her side and they crept towards their designated entrance, easily silencing the ordinary human guard posted outside. He moved cat-quietly, just as she did, and for a fleeting moment Max was grateful that Logan had not been a realistic choice for the mission. She _might_ have allowed it if he'd still had his exoskeleton but that was little more than scrap metal these days.

"Ready?" Max whispered to Alec.

"Too bad if I'm not, huh?" he teased lightly. Max rolled her eyes and took the lead, unexpectedly reassured by Alec's presence at her back. They made their way through the maze of large rooms and old machinery, listening for any sign that their presence had been detected.

"Dix?" Max queried softly, reaching up to touch the earpiece she was wearing. All of them had one.

"_No alarms yet, silent or otherwise_," Dix replied. "_The others are cleaning the place out. Keep going_."

With a nod, Alec indicated that he'd heard as well and they continued until they reached the door that led to the basement that had been converted into a holding area. When Max would have gone in first, Alec put a hand on her shoulder to forestall her.

"Ladies first, remember?" he whispered, his twinkling eyes reminding her of their playful words back at the safehouse. Max sternly suppressed a smile, wondering how he could joke at a time like this.

_Fine. Let him go in first and get his ass shot up_, she thought, half-amused and half-exasperated yet alert nonetheless as she followed him down the stairs. She knew why he'd done it. He had a gun and she – rather stubbornly in his opinion – refused to use them. She couldn't really blame him. She'd never told him the reason behind her aversion to firearms.

The moment Alec reached the bottom of the stairs, he found a pistol pointed at his eye by a rather grizzled-looking man in his thirties.

"Don't move. Put your hands over your head. Both of you," he ordered them.

"Are you just gonna stand there or do I have to kick his ass for you?" Max muttered in Alec's ear. He gave her a withering look and half-a-heartbeat later Alec had simply snatched the gun out of the man's hand and knocked him out cold. He shook his head in disgust as he put the weapon down.

"You'd think by now it'd at least cross their minds that we might be transgenic," he murmured, earning a shrug from Max.

"Their problem, not ours," she replied as she walked straight past him and headed down the corridor.

They stopped just short of the next corner.

"This is it," Max said softly, mentally checking the building plans she'd memorized. "Dix, are we clear?"

"_Two guards on either side of the door_," Dix replied. "_Two more coming down the hallway. All armed with pistols and shock prods_."

Alec's trademark smirk made an appearance as Max signalled her instructions. He nodded and without a second thought the two transgenics blurred into the corridor.

Max attacked the pair by the doors while Alec sped onwards towards the two newcomers, moving so fast that he'd already gotten them one of them on the ropes before the man could mount an adequate defence.

A punch to the jaw and a spinning kick to the chest sent his opponent flying into the wall while the other guard moved in with a shock prod, catching Alec in the stomach with it so that he jerked backwards with a growl. Alec evaded the next strike, blurring beneath the man's arm and catching his wrist in a vice-like grip, snapping the bones with a nauseating _crunch_. Alec's boot found the back of the guard's knee just as his companion waded back into the fray.

For her part, Max was doing what she did best – fighting dirty. Making good use of her superior speed, she was ducking and weaving, striking wherever she could. She was actually surprised that they hadn't gone down yet and was starting to suspect that she was missing a vital piece of the puzzle.

Especially when she'd aimed a rather spectacular kick between the legs of one and he hadn't even flinched.

_Oh God_. _Not more of White's cult loonies_, she thought in sudden apprehension. One Familiar she could handle and had done so in the past. Four against two, on the other hand, suddenly didn't seem like such good odds. In the periphery of her vision, she could see Alec in a no-holds-barred martial arts brawl similar to her own, using every trick he knew to get the upper hand against the two Familiars.

They couldn't afford to play anymore. It was kill or be killed.

Max pushed aside all thoughts of mercy and redoubled her efforts, leaping up and over her opponent and twisting in midair so that she landed behind him. One hand grabbed hold of his arm, twisting it up behind his back as the other wrapped around his jaw and twisted savagely. She heard the telltale _snap_ as his neck broke and released his arm, kicking the suddenly limp body towards the other Familiar.

At the same moment, she heard the distinctive sound of a knife being unsheathed and watched out of the corner of her eye as Alec slammed a guard against the wall and slid the blade up under the man's chin, driving it in up to the hilt.

Alec wrested the shock prod from the guard's dead fingers and whipped around, narrowly evading a bullet and shoving the business end against the stomach of his attacker, watching with satisfaction as the man flailed for a couple of seconds and then finally collapsed beside his partner, twitching convulsively.

Max knocked the last Familiar out, took the access card from his belt and placed her ear against the door. She began tapping Morse code against the steel, hoping that Brax and Mole could hear the simple message she was trying to convey.

_Hold on_. _Max and Alec_.

"Tell me I'm wrong," Alec muttered, breathing hard as he rolled up the sleeve of one of his victims to check the man's arm. He clenched his teeth. "Max."

She looked down and grimaced at the confirmation of her suspicions. The telltale scar, the symbol of Caduceus, stood out boldly against the skin.

"Shit. There's no time. Come on," Max told him. He didn't argue as she swiped the card through the reader and the mechanism flashed greenly at her. Turning the handle, Max pulled at the heavy door and it swung open. She glanced around the room, puzzled to find it empty. No cells, no transgenics. Nothing.

Except for the large sheet-swathed figure lying on the floor close to the back wall. The scent of blood assaulted her and her heartbeat sped up. She approached carefully, her brain helpfully noting that the body was too large to be Brax.

_Mole…_ she thought, inwardly praying that she was wrong.

Alec seemed to share her thoughts as he stepped over the threshold. "Where's Brax?" he breathed, his tone tinged with worry. "I don't like this."

Max crouched down and grabbed hold of the sheet, pulling it back. Her eyes widened.

Logan's source had been right. General Anthony Matheson was indeed present and accounted for. There was just one tiny detail that had been left out.

The fact that the back of Matheson's skull was missing.

"Alec."

His brow furrowing in sudden consternation, Alec's head whipped around to stare up at the surveillance camera in the uppermost corner of the room. Realization dawned and both transgenics blurred towards the exit but it was already too late.

The steel door slammed shut on them and the electronic lock engaged. There was no handle on their side, nothing they could use as leverage, no coded keypad. Alec tried to kick it open, putting all his strength and weight behind the blow to no avail. Max joined him but after a couple of tries they both knew it was useless. Even two transgenics couldn't kick through a solid six-inch-thick steel door.

Alec cursed under his breath as Max groaned in frustration. Liquid brown eyes met hazel in a look of complete agreement and understanding as Max adjusted her earpiece.

"All units, this is Max. It's a trap. Abort the mission."

There was no response and Max frowned in concern.

"Dix?" she tried again. "Rand? Syl?"

When she didn't get a single reply, Alec tried in her stead with the same result. Max's temper started to boil.

"They're jamming us. They've gotta be," Alec surmised grimly. "The bastards covered all the bases."

"Great," Max snarked. "That's just _great_!"


	30. Love Sucks

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **God, I adored writing this chapter. Hope you like it!

**Chapter 30: Love Sucks**

**Sector Three, The Factory**

"Any ideas?" Max asked, her hands on her hips as she examined their surroundings with professional detachment.

"I'm working on it," Alec assured her as he knocked on the walls, estimating their thickness.

"Any progress?"

"No, because you're distracting me."

"I thought you could talk and think at the same time."

"Shut up, Max."

Max bit back a sarcastic retort. Now was not the time to start bitching at him again. It wasn't his fault they were trapped in a steel box with a dead body and no way to contact their people on the outside.

"Maybe if we switch the earpieces to a different frequency…" she mused but Alec shook his head.

"They've probably hooked up some kind of electro-magnetic field or pulse," he told her. "Besides, our people wouldn't know what frequency to tune in to."

"They must have looped some footage of Brax and Mole into the feed," she deduced as she gazed up at the surveillance camera. "Which makes you wonder who's on the other side of this thing. Alec, give me a leg up."

Realizing what she intended, Alec complied, boosting her up so she could disconnect it without having to jump up and down like a cocker spaniel.

"Just in case," Max said, hopping down after a couple of seconds. Alec dusted his hands off and returned to evaluating their chances of escaping from their prison. Max quickly joined in, tapping her foot impatiently as the seconds ticked by.

"I think this thing's airtight." Alec reluctantly voiced his concerns. "These vents and that door are completely sealed."

"So not only are we trapped – together – but we've got limited oxygen," Max grumbled. "Son of a bitch."

"Object to breathing the same air as me, Maxie?" Alec asked sarcastically.

"That's not helping," she admonished him, her patience eroding faster with every word he spoke.

"Yeah, I know," he admitted. He sucked in the side of one cheek and clucked his tongue. "What about you? Any brilliant schemes you care to let me in on?"

"Give me a minute."

"Sure. Go wild. We might even have enough air for two," Alec replied with more humour than he actually felt.

"That's not helping either," she pointed out. "I take back what I said before. Stop talking and concentrate on thinking."

"I'll shut up if you will."

"Really?" Max eyed him sceptically, not believing him for a moment.

"Okay, maybe not," Alec said ruefully. "Well, at least the time in the tank was good for something."

Briefly, Max wondered if Alec would actually be able to keep his mouth shut for the five or six minutes most transgenics could hold their breath for. Thinking back to the time they'd been stuck in a closet together for an hour, Max doubted it. The effort of being quiet would kill him before oxygen deprivation did.

Max amused herself for about forty seconds by slowly circling the room, still hoping to find a chink in the room's design that could be exploited. She hated feeling helpless. It just went against the grain.

"Nice moves out there," she said suddenly, turning to look over her shoulder at him. "I don't think I've ever seen you fight like that before."

Alec seemed genuinely surprised by her unexpected praise. "Thanks. You didn't do so bad yourself."

"How come you don't fight like that all the time? You might come out on top more often," she felt obliged to point out. She'd seen him have his ass handed to him on more than one occasion.

"If you're talking about our little cage match, that's really not fair," Alec replied, leaning back against the wall with his arms folded across his chest. "Just because I'm a gentleman –"

Max's snort earned her a quelling glance. "You? A gentleman?'

"Give me a little credit, Max," he said with a sigh. "Granted I'm no saint but I'm not the bad guy either." He regarded her critically, his steady green-gold gaze fixed on her face. "When are you gonna get past that, huh?"

"Alec, I don't think you're the bad guy," she objected automatically, the words spilling out before she'd even really thought about it. "It's just… Well, it's…"

"Complicated," he finished for her, letting his breath out in a rush. "I know. I get it."

"Do you?" she asked tentatively, her teeth tugging at her lower lip. "I'm not so sure."

"Yeah, Max, I do get it," he confirmed with admirable calm. "More than you know."

_He's talking about Rachel_, Max realized, recognizing honesty when she saw it. Alec understood how hard it was to let go, to love someone and fear that your presence in their life could mean its end.

"Can I ask you something?" he said carefully. "And can you promise not to laugh or bitch or anything like that?"

Max pursed her lips and nodded, figuring she owed him that much. "Sure. Okay, I promise."

"Is it because I look like Ben? Or is it just because I'm me?"

That was the last thing she'd expected to come out of his mouth. Max was speechless, stammering incoherently for a moment while her brain processed what he'd just said.

"You want to do this _now_?" she spluttered. "Here?"

"Forget it," he said dismissively, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Forget I said anything."

"Ben has nothing to do with it," she finally told him, thrown off-balance by such an outrageous suggestion.

"Right. Thanks," he said simply, averting his eyes. "Did you bring your boot knife?"

"My boot knife?" Max was momentarily disoriented by the sudden change of subject. "It's not like we can use it to pick the lock, Alec. Why would you –"

"Didn't you promise – oh, twenty seconds ago – not to bitch or anything like that?" he reminded her as she glared at his back. His manner had shifted from open and honest to distant and professional in the time it took for her to blink. Max fought the urge to grind her teeth.

_Typical_, she fumed. He was shutting her down again. It was becoming a habit of his, one she was starting to resent with irrational fervour. Max stalked over to him and for the first time in a month she smacked him up the back of the head.

"_Ow!_ Hey, what the hell are you –"

"You're an ass, you know that?" she snapped. "Where do you get off asking me something like that?"

"What?" he asked, sounding incredulous. "I asked. You answered. End of story. What's your problem?"

"_My problem_ is that you seem to think I hate you or something."

"Gee, where would I get that idea?" Alec snarked, rubbing the back of his head as he frowned down at her.

"Shut up and listen," Max said sharply, her temper pricked by his idiocy. "It's not you. Have you got that? It's Logan and this whole _stupid_, impossible situation."

"I know, I know. He rocks your world," Alec said wearily, wishing he hadn't asked. "Can we drop this now?"

"No, because you started it," Max said stubbornly. They had no way out and she decided right then and there that she'd take advantage of that fact to make him understand. "We're working this bitch out right now."

"You're not gonna let this go, are you?" he asked, sounding resigned to his fate.

"Not a chance," she agreed, shaking her head. She looked him squarely in the eyes. "I love Logan."

"Glad we cleared that up," Alec said flippantly but Max shook her head and grabbed hold of his jaw.

"I told you to shut up and listen," she repeated, meeting his eyes. One eyebrow quirked as he crossed his arms over his chest and he somehow managed to look stern with her fingers making his lips pucker like those of a fish. It was so comical that Max barely stifled a completely inappropriate giggle.

"Fine," he grumbled and she released him. He swivelled his jaw experimentally, glaring at her the whole time.

"First, this was never about Ben. It hasn't been since that night I broke you out of jail," she informed him. "Don't ever think that again." When he didn't interrupt, she continued. "I said it was complicated and it is. Mainly because Logan's so jealous of you all the time."

"Well, having sex with a guy's girlfriend for two days straight has its side effects," Alec drawled. Max flushed but kept going. She was still covered in marks from their 'experience' but she would never tell him that.

"He was jealous before that and you know it," she said testily. "I don't think he ever really believed me when I said the whole thing about you and me being together was a lie."

"Picked up on that, huh? Ever ask yourself why, Maxie?" Alec taunted softly.

"Yeah," she said honestly, surprising him. "The answer kinda scared me." She bit her lip and brushed a wayward lock of hair away from her face. "The point is that I do care about you, more than I should, but it doesn't change the fact that I love Logan."

His face was expressionless, his eyes shuttered. That in itself was telling.

"Maybe if things were different…" She trailed off, hearing one of the all-time worst clichés coming out of her mouth and knowing how awful it sounded.

"Maybe if you'd never met Logan, you mean." Alec filled in the blank easily enough. "Are we done?"

Max suddenly wished she hadn't pushed, that she had done this some other way in some other place. This should have been their cue to separate and get everything straight in their heads. Instead, they were trapped.

"Yeah. We're done," she whispered.

"Good. The air's getting thin."

There wasn't much Max could say to argue with that even if she wanted to.

_If there's a God, I'm gonna kick his ass for this_, Max thought vengefully as Alec started pacing slowly, the tension in his stance more obvious than ever. _Alec's gonna die mad at me_…

That thought was unbearable. She hated being at odds with Alec. It just didn't feel right and hadn't in months. Not that the idea of him dying of asphyxiation – or dying at all – was any more appealing. It literally made her skin crawl.

_Stop it_, she chastised herself. _Nobody's gonna die. The others'll figure it out and save the day. They've gotta know we're missing by now_.

With a final groan, Alec sat down and leaned his head back against the wall. Max hesitated for a moment and then slowly sat down beside him, giving him ample opportunity to reject her presence if he wanted to. He turned his head to look at her, all traces of anger draining out of him as he exhaled. His green-gold eyes met her darker ones for several seconds.

"We're really bad at this emotional stuff, huh?" Alec said thoughtfully.

"That's the understatement of the millennium," she told him, her tone gentler than it had been. He ran his hand restlessly through his short hair, making it stick up everywhere and Max's lips twitched. He always looked adorable when he did that.

"Listen… I meant what I said," she told him gently.

"You love Logan. I know," Alec replied but Max shook her head.

"Not just that, Alec," she corrected him, letting her vulnerability show in her face. "I meant what I said about you. This thing with you and me… " She drew in a deep breath and pursed her lips. "Look, what I'm trying to say is that what I feel about Logan is different to what I feel about you. You're one of my best friends."

For the first time, Alec hated being stuck in that section of Max's compartmentalized little life.

"I love you both… and I'm sorry. I really am."

With a calm she knew he didn't really feel, he nodded and cleared this throat, accepting her decision because he had no other choice.

"So… any deep thoughts you wanna share?" he asked, echoing the questions he'd asked on top of the Space Needle so long ago. "Any profound realizations about life?"

"Yeah," she said softly, still holding his gaze. "Love sucks."


	31. Plan B

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **Semtex is a plastic explosive favoured by terrorists because it's easily obtained and hard to detect. Apparently as little as 250g can bring down an airliner (Wikipedia).

This one's a bit choppy. Hope it makes sense.

**Chapter 31: Plan B**

**Sector Three, Outside The Factory**

"Max?" Dix's voice was coloured with building anxiety. "Alec? Anyone?"

"Still no response?" Luke asked as he continued adjusting the backup radio, hoping to pick their people up on another frequency. It had been too long since they'd last heard from Max or Alec. Or anyone for that matter.

"_Dix, where the hell are they?_" Logan's voice erupted from the speakers, echoing slightly in the van that served as their mobile base of operations.

"We don't know," Dix replied in frustration.

"_What was their last known location?_" Logan persisted.

"They went into the room where they're holding Brax and Mole," Luke advised him. For a moment, there was silence as Logan digested that information.

"_Did you see them on the camera inside that room?_" Logan asked at last. "_They were inside long enough for us to see them before the door closed and we lost the feed_."

Dix and Luke looked at each other in alarm, suddenly realizing what was happening.

"They looped the footage."

**Sector Three, Inside The Factory**

His keen eyes and ears alert for any threat, Rand stepped over the unconscious guard at the base of the stairs. Shaine paused only to pick up the pistol lying on the ground, expertly removing the magazine as well as the bullet already in the chamber. No sense leaving the guard with a viable weapon if he happened to wake up.

At first, the lack of radio communication hadn't alarmed Rand. After all, they were operating on a covert basis and it was perfectly natural to minimize their chances of being overheard. However, when it had stretched on for longer than usual, Shaine had tried to check in with no response.

The pairs had found each other quickly enough after that and now the remaining four on the upper level were officially snipers, positioned at the best vantage points in the building. They weren't leaving without Max and Alec. It was as simple as that.

Rand listened intently for any sign of movement around the last corner and finally entered the corridor, his pistol at the ready. One eyebrow rose slightly at the sight of four men lying motionless on the floor.

"I think it's safe to say they made it this far," he murmured to Shaine, approaching carefully nonetheless.

"Rand, look at this."

Shaine crouched down beside one of the men, holding up his bared arm for Rand to see. He scowled and let his breath hiss through his teeth.

"Familiars. That's all we need," he muttered darkly, reaching down the check the arm of the one with his neck at a distinctly unnatural angle.

"None of them have an access card for that door," Shaine informed him after giving each body a cursory search. She also freed the blade lodged in the head of the third and swiftly wiped the blade clean on the dead man's clothes. Rand, in the meantime, turned his attention to the steel door standing between them and their goal.

"Max and Alec must have it," Rand surmised. "Check the next hall."

Shaine smoothly got to her feet and did as he asked while he studied the electronic lock, trying to figure out if he could override it somehow.

"We're all clear," Shaine reported as she returned to his side. "Any luck?"

Rand gave her a look that spoke volumes.

"Krit and Syl have got the explosives," Shaine thought out loud. "I'll be right back."

No sooner were the words out of her mouth than the loud crash of metal hitting cement made both X5s spin around in alarm. Rand was moving before the sound had died away. They raced towards the source, guns drawn, only to find a solid blast door blocking the stairs. Shaine slammed the side of her fist against the metal in frustration.

"The entire building must be on lockdown," Shaine realized, her eyes sparking angrily as she glanced at Rand. "This whole damn thing was a set up."

Rand simply nodded curtly as he belatedly became conscious of the truth.

"Brax and Mole were never here. They played us."

"Rand, do you smell that?" Shaine asked, her nose twitching as she sniffed experimentally.

"You've gotta be kidding me," he muttered angrily. "What, locking us in isn't good enough? They've gotta gas the place too?" He looked over at Shaine and sighed. "All right, whoever holds their breath the longest buys the drinks."

**Sector Seven, Safehouse One**

For the first time in a long time, Logan was completely lost – at the one moment when he couldn't afford to be.

_It was a trap. They've got Max_… _and Alec_, he added as an afterthought. The litany ran through his head over and over, followed by other torturous feelings. _They fed me false information. How the hell did they flip my source? How on earth did they even_ find _him?_

Worst of all was the last.

_They used me to get to Max._

All five COs were missing and their lieutenants along with them. Even Krit and Syl, whom Logan would have turned to in a heartbeat for help in rescuing Max, were part of the task force that had unwittingly played into enemy hands and therefore not a viable option.

_God, I can't lose her again. Not again!_

The only other units that Logan knew to be intact were Rand's, still in Sector Nine, and Jett's but they were still on duty at Harbour Lights. He wasn't even sure how many reinforcements could be scrounged from Sector Three.

_A situation that could be remedied easily enough_, Logan decided, striding out of the room where he'd set up his laptop and towards the makeshift control centre.

Heedless of the danger in grabbing a genetically-engineered killing machine without warning, Logan's hand clamped down on Sway's arm and the tele-coercive transgenic turned the full force of her spellbinding gaze on him.

"Let. Go."

He complied instantly, then shook his head to clear the fog in his mind.

"I need your help."

**Sector Three, The Main Area of the Factory, Several Minutes Later**

Krit, Syl, Jett and Ember held a quick conference under the cover of some outdated machinery. They'd already established that all the exits had been blocked and not only had Max and Alec disappeared but Rand and Shaine were also unaccounted for. Even the sewer and roof accesses had been welded shut.

"Options, people," Jett said. "Ideas, anything…?"

"Getting into that basement they sealed off sounds like a plan to me," Krit chimed in.

"Is that the extent of your plan?" Ember asked, sounding slightly amused.

"We left Max behind once. We're not doing it again," Syl told them, a determined glint in her brown eyes. When Jett frowned at her, she realized that he thought they must have abandoned Max and hastened to correct him. "We thought she was KIA. Long story."

"You two helped her and 599 blow up the DNA lab," Ember concluded.

Syl gave Ember a wary glance, wondering if the redhead was going to make an issue of it. Max had explained the consequences of their actions for the other X5s.

"Relax," Ember said. "Remind me to introduce you to our son."

"Save it for later, baby," Jett interceded. "What are our assets?"

"Two nine mills, four mags and a twelve-inch Bowie knife," Ember began and each of them followed suit, reeling off lists of weapons concealed on various parts of their bodies. The end tally was actually quite impressive, especially when Krit swung the small bag off his shoulder and opened it up for their inspection.

"Semtex? Excellent," Ember said appreciatively as she and Jett gazed down at a load of plastic explosives. "How good are you guys with this stuff?"

"Scary good," Syl replied confidently, meeting Jett's questioning gaze. He nodded, not having any other choice than to believe them.

"Okay," Jett decided. "You guys are on demolition duty. We'll kill anyone who gets in the way. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Krit replied. "Let's get moving."

Jett and Ember exchanged a quick look and got to their feet, moving off ahead of their companions.

"Whaddya say we blow somethin' up?" Syl asked, turning to her mate with a cavalier smile.

"Hell yes."

**Sector Three, The Factory Basement**

Max's head was spinning, her stomach lurching in protest of the lack of oxygen. The part of her brain that was still trying to function was thankful that she hadn't eaten before they came or she suspected she'd have thrown up by now. Ridiculous as it sounded, especially when they were in such dire straits, she really didn't want to humiliate herself by vomiting in front of Alec.

Her hand had somehow became clasped in his, the contact comforting in the silence that filled the bleak, metallic room that would soon serve as their coffin instead of their prison. Every second that passed, every breath, eroded her hopes that the others would get them out.

Max hated being afraid but that emotion was gaining strength quickly, rivalled only by her anger. This wasn't how it was supposed to end. She was supposed to… what? Die of old age surrounded by grandchildren? Go out fighting like Seth? Or was she supposed to give her life for her family the way Eva and Tinga had?

Max didn't want to die at all and she didn't want the man sitting beside her to share that fate.

Alec had too much energy, too much vitality to just drift into the darkness like that.

It suddenly occurred to Max how cruel it was that Alec had never had a family like she did. Except Jess, of course, who was a little bit crazy in Max's opinion.

One person. That was it.

For the first twenty-one years of his life, one person had been willing to fight for him the way her siblings had always fought for her. While she'd had Jack and Brin and Ben, while she'd had Krit and Syl and Zane, an entire unit of cloned children had alienated each other.

Later Rachel had loved him but she hadn't known what he was. Could the girl she'd seen lying in that bed have accepted the whole truth about Simon Lehane? Could she have accepted that reality the way Cindy and Sketchy and – hell, even Normal – had accepted it?

Max had the sinking feeling that the sudden tightness in her chest had nothing to do with the rapidly-decreasing oxygen supply in the room.

"Alec… I'm sorry."

Alec's lips were blue but she couldn't seem to focus on him properly. Her vision was starting the blur. Her head lolled forward slightly and he nudged her shoulder with his.

"Max… stay awake."

His voice seemed so far away. She blinked several times, hoping her eyes would correct themselves. She knew she was breathing too fast. Trying to hold their breath when there was insufficient oxygen in the air had quickly proved fruitless.

"Mmm…" she murmured softly, too tired to keep her eyes open any longer.

Alec coughed slightly as he tried to take a deeper breath. Max's head slowly came to rest on his shoulder, the effort of holding it up any longer finally becoming too much for her.

"Max…" he mumbled thickly, knowing it was useless. "Maxie."

Her dark eyes closed and Alec knew it wouldn't be long before he succumbed as well.


	32. No Man Left Behind

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **Okay, guys and girls, sorry it took so long but here's a brand spankin' new chapter. Oh and X5898, I feel obligated to point out that if you kill me for what happens in this chapter, this story will never get finished! lol.

**Chapter 32: No Man Left Behind**

**Sector Three, The Factory**

With Jett and Ember armed to the teeth and standing guard over them, Krit and Syl hurriedly arranged a generous portion of plastic explosives against the blast door blocking the doorway at the bottom of the basement stairs.

"Okay, back it up!" Syl cautioned as she and Krit emerged from the stairwell and the four transgenics quickly moved back and took cover, holding their hands over their sensitive ears.

"Fire in the hole," Krit announced, pressing the button with a wink at Syl, who grinned at him as force of the explosion sent pieces of metal and flame flying up the stairwell. After a couple of seconds, Krit peered down at the smoking door and smiled in satisfaction. "Sweet. We're in."

The four X5s each drew their weapons of choice as they reached the top of the stairs and began their descent.

"Ugh," Syl suddenly exclaimed, wrinkling her nose as a pungent, sickly-sweet smell, mingled with the smoke, overwhelmed them. "What the hell is that?"

"Gas," Krit said grimly, blinking furiously to clear his head.

"Sevoflurane. It's an anaesthetic," Ember informed her as they slipped through the hole they'd blown in the steel barrier. "I'd recognize that smell anywhere."

"Oh, shit…" Jett whispered, lowering his weapon as the smoke cleared to reveal a singed Shaine struggling to get up onto her feet, one hand glued to her bleeding ear while the other levelled a pistol directly at the newcomers. The half-conscious Rand's entire left side was smouldering, his body twitching convulsively in agony.

"Oh my God…" Ember breathed, rushing to his side.

"Shaine, are you all right?" Jett asked quickly.

"What?" Shaine asked in a loud voice, taking her hand away from her the side of her head long enough to try to balance herself.

"Are you all right?" Jett repeated, nearly gagging as the stench of burned flesh permeated the corridor.

"_What?_"

"I think we deafened her," Syl observed in dismay as Jett gave up and started signalling instead. Shaine quickly nodded, wincing as Ember swiftly inspected Rand's injuries.

"His pulse is a mess," Ember reported as Rand started thrashing, letting out a pained scream that sliced across raw nerves like a knife. Syl couldn't suppress a shudder.

"Jesus, just knock him out!" Krit snapped, cringing at the sound as Shaine rounded on them.

"_How much of that shit did you use?_" Shaine snarled, almost shouting over the unbearable ringing in her ears.

"It's a blast door," Syl replied with a helpless shrug when Jett gave her a questioning glance.

"We don't have time for this," Ember chided them as Rand's blue eyes glazed over. "Jett, get over here and help me move him upstairs before this gas makes us all pass out."

"She's still conscious," Krit pointed out, gesturing towards the glowering Shaine.

"She was probably holding her breath until we blasted our way in," Ember replied sharply. "Now move it!"

"Shaine, where are Max and Alec?" Syl asked.

"_What?_"

"WHERE ARE MAX AND ALEC?"

"_Through there!_" Shaine shouted back, pointing around the corner. "_The steel door on the right!_"

"So much for covert ops," Jett muttered as he pulled Rand up and slung him across his shoulders, gritting his teeth against the agonized shout that the injured X5 struggled to suppress. "Easy, pal. I know it hurts. I'm sorry."

"Look, just go. We'll get Max," Syl told them.

"Be careful," Ember cautioned them as she grabbed Shaine's arm and steered hurried towards the stairwell.

Krit let out a low whistle when he ran a practiced eye over the door in question.

"Well, well… six-inches of electromagnetically-locked steel if I'm not mistaken," he decided. "Gotta give 'em credit for being thorough."

"Whoever set this up knew what they were doing," Syl agreed. "Okay, let's wire it up. We're gonna have to do this in stages with an enclosed space on the other side."

"All right, take cover while I wire it up," Krit advised as he started pulling more plastic explosives out of the bag. He handed her the remote. "Your turn." He worked swiftly, inserting the detonators at the required points while Syl retreated to a respectable distance.

"All good, baby?" she called out just as he finished.

"Give it a ten count," he said and started following her voice. He made it to her location just as she pressed the button.

"Fire in the hole!" Syl announced and the corridor shook as the explosives discharged. Krit surged forward to check their handiwork.

"Okay, one more oughta do it," he told her and hooked up another charge. When the second blast had cleared, they drew their weapons and carefully approached the gaping hole in the twisted steel door.

When no resistance of any form was forthcoming, Krit peered inside and his smug expression vanished.

Both Alec and Max were sitting against the far wall, unmoving and bleeding in several places were debris had struck them. In fact, a large piece of jagged metal was embedded in the wall, inches from Max's head.

"Maxie!" He darted inside and skidded to his sister's side, his fingers searching for a pulse in her throat as Syl did the same for Alec. "She's alive. Maxie, can you hear me? Shit, she's not breathing."

"He is," Syl said. "Barely. Their lips are blue. They suffocated. Come on, freaky twin guy, rise and shine!" She gave Alec a firm slap across the cheek to rouse him as Krit laid Max down on the floor and started mouth-to-mouth.

"Come on, baby sister," Krit muttered between lungfuls of air as Alec twitched and drew in a deep, gasping breath which only made him start coughing as oxygen rushed back into his starving body.

"Max…" Alec slurred the word, his glassy hazel eyes opening a mere crack.

"Just shut up and breathe, Alec," Syl advised him, glancing nervously at Krit, who was still forcing air into Max's lungs. "We've got her."

With half her attention fixed on the unguarded door and her pistol clutched tightly in her hand, Syl chanted silently to herself.

_Please, please, please, please, please_…

Alec stirred, struggling to focus on the unconscious girl laid out beside him. "Max…"

"Quiet, Alec," Syl snapped, more harshly than she intended as the seconds ticked by and Krit checked the brunette's pulse again. "Krit?"

"Wait, I think I've got something," Krit whispered, all his senses trained on the sister who bore such an uncanny resemblance to him. Her skin was ashen, bordering on grey, and Krit felt the first frission of desperation, of panic, snake its way down his spine.

"Is she breathing?" Syl asked anxiously, her brown eyes clouded with fear. Krit shook his head and grimly forced another lungful of air down Max's throat.

"No…" Alec growled, his voice unsteady. He sagged and Syl ruthlessly slapped him again.

"Don't you dare pass out on us, damn it!"

I've got her!" Krit suddenly exclaimed as Max's chest suddenly rose and fell on its own. She coughed violently as Alec had, nearly choking as her body strained for oxygen. A grin of sheer relief lit up Krit's face. "Maxie, it's me. It's Krit. Take it easy."

"Shh… she all right?" Alec slurred, his eyelids so heavy he had to fight to keep them open.

"She's okay," Syl said quickly, reaching out to grasp Max's wrist and lift her sister onto her shoulders. "Grab him, Krit. I can still smell that gas."

Krit obediently pulled Alec up onto his feet and slung the X5's arm over his shoulders, taking as much of Alec's weight as he could without carrying him outright. With a nod from Syl he half-dragged Alec through the charred, twisted remains of the steel door.

"I thought stealth models were supposed to be lightweights," Krit grumbled good-naturedly.

"Shut up…" Alec muttered softly and Krit grinned, glad that he'd been able to bait him. That, more than anything, reassured him that Alec would be all right. Resemblance to Ben aside, Krit was inclined to like X5-494.

Krit had just reached the top of the stairs when he suddenly froze.

"Krit? What is it?" Syl asked quietly.

"I'll take them if you don't mind," a cool voice intoned and the transgenics found themselves surrounded on all sides by men and women bearing the mark of the Caduceus, every last one of them armed to the teeth. Rand had been dumped on the floor like garbage, out cold, while Jett, Ember and Shaine were on their knees, bound at the wrists and ankles so tightly that blood stained their hands.

At their head was Ames White, impeccably dressed in a black business suit.

"You…" Alec snarled, his hazel eyes lighting on the man they had come to hate even more than they hated Donald Lydecker. More than they hated Manticore.

"Submit," White said calmly, "and I might even refrain from taking you apart before I kill you."

White's cold eyes slid over to Syl and stopped there for a long moment. Krit found himself bristling instinctively, his brown eyes darkening with an emotion he didn't like to name.

It had been years since Krit had _wanted_ to take a life but something about the well-dressed, if slightly short, man standing in front of him brought out every destructive instinct that he had.

_Zack, I wish you were here_.

The thought leapt into his mind out of nowhere.

"Shit."


	33. Ashes to Ashes

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **Well, we're winding up at last. Hope this chapter works for you.

**Chapter 33: Ashes to Ashes**

**Sector Three, The Factory**

Slung across Syl's shoulders, Max began to stir, her long dark hair obscuring her face as it hung down around her like a curtain.

"Alec…?" she murmured, still lost in her oxygen-deprived haze, oblivious to the gravity of the situation. Krit felt Alec tense at the sound of her voice, saw the green-gold eyes flash dangerously.

"So nice of you to join us, 452," White said with a smile that reminded Krit forcefully of a shark that had scented blood in the water. He looked directly at Syl. "Hand her over."

"You're dreaming," Syl scoffed only to have every single Familiar draw their weapons. The two transgenics didn't give an inch but knew the odds were not in their favour.

"Am I? I have no problem whatsoever with killing each and every one of you freaks to get to her," White informed them, his hands folded neatly in front of him.

Considering the state Max and Alec had been in when they'd blown the door open, Krit and Syl had no choice but to believe him. They exchanged a speaking look. Max and Alec didn't have a snowball's chance in Hell of winning a fight right at that moment and two against twenty was suicidal.

"Stand down," Jett reluctantly ordered from where he knelt on the floor.

"Jett –" Syl protested, shaking her head. It went against everything in her to just hand Max over, especially when she was totally defenceless.

"_Stand down_," Jett repeated firmly when the two 09ers bristled rebelliously.

Krit and Syl exchanged one final glance, knowing and hating that they had no other option. Slowly, Krit met White's eyes and nodded.

"All right," he said softly. "We surrender."

"Smart move," White conceded graciously. "Disarm them."

Several Familiars stirred to obey White's command. Alec tensed, prepared to lash out as they approached Max but Krit squeezed his arm warningly, holding him back.

"Not now, Alec," he said softly, his fierce gaze locked on White's smug expression. "Not here."

In less than a minute, all their weapons had been confiscated from their guns to their most carefully hidden blades. Syl had been particularly angered by the pat-down she'd been subjected to. Krit had been forced to settle for glowering at the men who'd dared to put their hands on his mate.

Max had been handcuffed and was now lying on the floor at White's feet, completely disoriented. Bound as tightly as the others, Alec was watching her like a hawk, his hazel eyes fixed on the soft rise and fall of her chest as if each breath might be her last.

"And why am I not surprised to find you here, 494?" White asked smugly, a hint of a smirk on his lips.

"What about that one?" one of the Familiars asked, gesturing towards Rand, who was lying beside Shaine. He wasn't moving. Only the occasional muscular twitch reassured the transgenics that he was still among the living.

"Shoot him," White replied without a second thought.

"NO!" Jett snarled as the man took aim but Shaine was way ahead of him. She may have been deaf but she wasn't blind. Even with her hands bound she launched herself at the Familiar, knocking his legs out from under him as the gun discharged and skewing his aim so that the bullet ricocheted off the floor.

A heartbeat later, she found the barrels of three rifles mere inches from her face.

"Shaine, don't move!" Ember shouted. "That's an order!"

Shaine's brown eyes darted from her opponents to Ember. The redhead shook her head to reinforce her words.

White let out a cruel chuckle as he hunkered down beside the X5 female. His cold eyes glittered with amusement as he held Shaine's fierce gaze, regarding her with mild curiosity.

"Well, isn't that sweet?" he taunted her softly. "On second thought, leave him here."

"Sir?"

"I said leave him here. Let him die slowly if that's what she wants." There was a malicious gleam in his eyes that made Shaine's stomach knot up in apprehension.

"And her?"

"Bring her. The priests have been wanting a female to sacrifice."

Without any further protests, the Familiars cut the bonds around the transgenics' ankles and dragged those X5s who could walk onto their feet, shoving them towards the door. Alec almost tripped over his own feet.

"No, Rand –" Shaine's sentence was cut off by a brutal cuff to her injured ear and she stifled a cry, turning around to lash out with a kick to her attacker's knee. With a sickening crunch, his leg bent at a completely unnatural angle, the Familiar staggered backwards with a curse.

Strong fingers suddenly gripped the back of her neck and began to squeeze, the pressure making the vertebrae grind against each other ominously. Shaine froze as she glimpsed White's face in her peripheral vision, knew he could snap her spine at any moment.

Reining in her temper with an effort, Shaine forced herself to relax in his grip. With her hands bound behind her back, she'd been stupid to resist in the first place.

"That's better," White said grimly, steering his captive towards the main door of the building that his people had opened for him. The Familiars followed, spreading out to cover their leader and his transgenic prisoners. White kept Shaine in front of him, a living shield against any further setbacks.

"Sir?" one of his men called out when they reached the exit. "We have a problem."

"What?" White hissed impatiently, looking over Shaine's shoulder. His eyes narrowed as he gazed out into the storm that had broken outside.

"Come outside slowly, snake boy," the amphibious Abe warned from the other side of the threshold, standing no more than twelve feet away from White with a shotgun pointed at the man's head. "The whole place is surrounded." Behind him, heedless of the rain, stood several dozen 'freaks' who were similarly armed – DACs, felines, mules, X-series. Jett recognized them all as denizens of the Sector Three safehouses.

When the Familiars tightened their hold on their captives, every single transgenic present took a menacing step forward.

"Do it or we open fire," Boyd seconded Abe. "Nice and easy."

With a curt nod from White, the Familiars reluctantly obeyed the order, stepping out into the rain and ranging themselves around their leader, their weapons at the ready.

"Tsk tsk tsk." Boyd clucked his tongue, directing his eyes skyward. Following his gaze warily, White discovered another ten transgenics on the roof of the factory, rifles trained on his people.

"Don't even think about it," Abe advised him.

"How 'bout you join us on our side of the line, boys and girls?" Boyd added, his gaze never wavering from the Familiars even though he was speaking to their prisoners.

"Move and I'll break her neck," White warned his hostages, his fingers digging sharply into the flesh of Shaine's neck. She grimaced but didn't dare move a muscle.

"Feelin' lucky, Ames?" Boyd continued, his blue-grey eyes alight with challenge. "You're outnumbered and we've had a rough couple of days. I could really use an outlet for my anger, you know?"

White's lip curled at Boyd's impertinence but the man was no fool. He was many things but prepared to sacrifice himself was not one of them. He had far too much unfinished business to attend to.

Jett seemed to sense his capitulation and wrenched himself out of his guard's grasp. Brock and Stone, two of the largest combat models present, surged forward to pull Max free and extricate her from the circle of Familiars. Alec had recovered enough to walk on his own, slipping out of his cuffs as he did so. He tossed them onto the ground at White's feet and joined the others.

Only Shaine didn't move. Her brown eyes were fixed on Boyd.

"Just shoot him, Boyd!" she snapped, past the point of caring that she was in the line of fire.

"You ready to meet your god, Ames?" Ember asked from where she stood beside the X5 male.

Seconds passed as the stalemate held. The Familiars were starting to shoot White nervous glances. They knew they were in no position to resist and win.

"This isn't over." White's icy gaze lingered on the half-conscious Max, who was just concentrating on breathing steadily with Krit and Syl supporting her on either side. "You can't protect 452 forever."

Backed by a small army of transgenics and transhumans, Alec turned around, his green-gold eyes blazing with angry intensity despite feeling ready to just fall over.

"Yeah?" he growled. "You want her so bad, Ames? Come and get her."

White's cold eyes wandered over the forces opposing him. With such numbers, it would be a bloodbath on both sides. Both he and Alec knew it, especially after White's previous defeat in Jam Pony. Not to mention that White's little breeding cult was a secret society – publicity wasn't something they could afford. A fight on such a scale would attract attention.

White carefully released Shaine, his fingers leaving bruises in their wake, and shoved her away from him.

"Come after us again and we'll kill you. Understand?"

Boyd's words made White pause.

"I believe these are yours," White said suddenly, turning around to face Alec once again. He reached into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out a thick envelope.

Alec reluctantly reached out and took the offering from White, his stomach clenching painfully.

"Proof of purchase," White smirked in a tone that made Alec's blood run cold. With that, White and his men began to disperse, disappearing into the downpour.

"Alec?" Shaine's voice was trembling as badly as Alec's hands as he opened the envelope and pulled out a black pocket notebook, identical to one that White had given him not long after Manticore burned to the ground.

Swallowing hard, he opened the book and gazed down at the gruesome evidence that was glued onto the page with blood. It took every ounce of self-control Alec possessed to stay still and flip to the next page.

Two barcodes sliced right off the necks of their owners - one taken from an X5, the other from a reptilian transhuman. Both numbers were as well-known to him as his own.

Alec stood frozen, his blood thundering in his ears. He didn't even hear Shaine approaching, didn't react fast enough to stop her from snatching the book out of his hand. Her dark eyes widened, all colour leeching from her skin in an instant.

"Shaine…"

She tore her eyes away from her mate's barcode long enough to look up into his face, searching for any hope – however small – that White was bluffing.

She found none.

Shaine thrust the book back into his nerveless fingers and stalked away without a word, struggling to keep her breathing even. Ember went after her, her dark blue eyes shadowed like Alec had never seen them.

Completely numb, Alec couldn't move. He couldn't even speak, the lump in his throat making it hard to even breathe. Mole and Brax…

_No, no, no, no, NO!_

Jett placed a comforting hand on Alec's shoulder while Krit turned to face the transgenic horde, his voice level, almost to the point of being emotionless.

"Move out. All of you make sure you're not followed."


	34. Sorrow

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**Chapter 33: Sorrow**

**Sector Three, Safehouse Eight, Two Hours Later**

"Well, no permanent damage," Sari declared, flicking off the pen-light she'd been shining into Max's eyes. "You were lucky."

"Yeah," Max agreed absently, her mind a million miles away. "I guess."

News of White's grisly delivery had quickly circulated through the transgenic population. Ember and Shaine still hadn't returned and Max's heart ached for them as much as it did for Alec.

It just didn't seem real. She kept expecting to hear Brax waltz in and give her his usual calm, concise assessment of the situation or see Mole swagger around with his shotgun at the ready, puffing away on his customary cigar. Boyd had gone to Sector Five to make sure Gem and Dalton were okay. Max didn't envy him. The idea of seeing baby Eve, knowing that the only father she'd ever known had just been murdered, made her breathing hitch.

And Rand… with first, second and even some third degree burns to almost fifty percent of his body, he'd been taken to Harbour Lights where Doc Woods could look after him. He'd gone into shock and Max still hadn't heard anything from Jett, who'd accompanied him. She wanted him to be okay. They'd lost too many people already without adding Rand to the list.

Thirty percent of their population slaughtered. Two COs dead. Dozens more out of action.

"Max?"

Max blinked and belatedly realized that Sari had been trying to get her attention for several seconds.

"Sorry," she said automatically. "What?"

"Never mind," Sari sighed. "Go on. Get outta here. Joshua's been asking for you."

"Sure," Max agreed with a small nod. "Hey, do you know where Alec is?"

"One floor down, second door on your right," Sari replied absently, shooing her patient out of the room.

Following Sari's directions, Max immediately headed down to see Alec. Taking a page out of his book, she didn't bother knocking. She just opened the door and walked in, closing it behind her.

Alec looked up from where he'd been staring out of the window.

"Hey," he said cautiously. He didn't make any move to approach her. He just stood there, hands in his jacket pockets.

"Hey," Max replied softly, feeling a little self-conscious after everything that had been said. She had a sneaking suspicion that he was too. "Are you okay?"

"You stopped breathing for a minute or two back there. Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

"I'm fine," she assured him, brushing her dark hair back behind her ear. "A little shaky, I guess."

He nodded and cleared his throat awkwardly. "Yeah, me too."

Such a confession was so uncharacteristic that Max regarded him curiously. He shrugged but didn't meet her eyes, running a restless hand through his hair like he always did when he was unsettled.

"Oxygen starvation isn't on my list of favourite experiences," he explained.

"Tell me about it," Max agreed with a rueful half-smile. Bracing herself, she sucked in a deep breath and bit the bullet. "Listen… I'm glad you're okay."

"You are?" He kept his tone neutral but she caught the uncertainty in his green-gold eyes, as if he didn't completely believe what he was hearing.

"Yeah, I am." She sighed and crossed the distance between them so that she was standing right in front of him. "I didn't want you to die, Alec. Whether I like it or not, your cocky ass has grown on me."

That comment earned her a laugh. "And there's that obsession with my ass again," he teased, finally relaxing as his green-gold eyes sparkled down at her. "Not that my ass isn't worthy of such admiration –"

"Shut up!" Max exclaimed, playfully smacking him on the arm. He was grinning down at her, his sudden mirth so infectious that she couldn't help smiling back at him, even if she was shaking her head as well.

"Look, I'm glad you're okay too," he told her honestly. "You, uh… kinda scared me back there."

She nodded slightly. "Yeah, I know the feeling." She swallowed hard and shifted uncomfortably. "Alec, I'm so sorry about Brax. He and Mole, they… um…"

"Max, don't," Alec said, shaking his head to stop her from continuing.

"They were my friends too," she whispered, liquid brown eyes meeting hazel in complete understanding. For a split-second, Max saw his 'always all right' façade crack, saw the flash of pain and loss in his eyes. It was the same look she'd seen when Biggs had been killed.

On impulse, Max wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. Taken by surprise, he tensed for a second before his arms folded around her in return. For a second, Max just let herself enjoy the sensation of being held, of feeling safe, before she reluctantly stepped back.

"Look, I've gotta find Joshua," she told him, "but you should go see Jess. She's probably worried about you."

Alec blinked. "You're encouraging me to spend time with Jessie?" He gave her a questioning look. "Who are you and what have you done with Max Guevara?"

"I'm serious, Alec," Max said, meeting his eyes. "I might not be her biggest fan but she's your sister… and she's the only one you've got."

Alec's lips curved up into a smile. "Thanks, Maxie."

"Sure," she said, very aware that she wasn't as immune to him as she'd like to be. She ducked her head, her teeth tugging at her lower lip for a moment before she looked up at him again. "Be careful, okay?"

"Always," he replied, his trademark smirk making an appearance. "I'll see you later, Maxie."

With that, Alec walked out, leaving her on her own. For a couple of minutes, Max just stood there, processing everything that had just happened.

He hadn't shut her down on sight. He hadn't gotten angry. He seemed okay… but then again it was often hard to tell with Alec. She'd gotten better at reading him but he had much more practice hiding his emotions than she did in separating fact from his brand of fiction.

She'd meant it when she said that he should go and see Jess. The blonde knew him better than anyone… the same way Krit and Syl knew her. It wasn't fair to wish away the only family Alec had. Hell, Zack had gotten on Alec's nerves but he hadn't punished Zack for looking like his twin.

And she still hadn't called Logan. He'd left about ten messages, none of which she'd answered yet. He'd been assured numerous times that she was alive and kicking but he seemed intent on only taking _her_ word for it.

She'd told Alec she loved him. She'd also said that she would stay with her 'ordinary' would-be lover despite that. Knowing what had happened, knowing that Logan would ask about what had happened, she was inwardly cringing at the prospect of lying to him.

Again.

If she told Logan the truth – that Alec did mean more to her than a friend – she knew he'd never get past it. What little faith he still had in Alec would be lost and she doubted he'd ever trust her completely again.

_Why should he trust you at all?_ a small, insidious voice in the back of her mind asked. _He doesn't know you went into heat at Crash. He doesn't know you spent two days having sex with your ex-breeding-partner, a guy he already feels threatened by. He doesn't know anything_. _In what warped reality is that healthy?_

_Shut up!_

Gritting her teeth, Max stalked out of the room and headed towards the room Joshua was staying in. She found him sitting in a corner, staring down at a paintbrush he was holding.

"Hey, Big Fella," Max breathed. Joshua looked up at her with such sad blue eyes that she felt her already fragile composure crumbling.

"Hey, Little Fella," he replied softly as she sat down beside him. She reached up and stroked his long shaggy hair away from his face.

"Are you okay?" she asked gently. He shook his head and sniffled.

"Mole was my friend," he said sadly. "White took Annie, took Biggs and CeCe. Didn't want him to take Brax and Mole too."

"I know," Max replied, her voice trembling as Joshua's large, warm hand closed over hers.

"What about you?" Joshua asked, his expression darkening. "Boyd said White hurt you. Hurt Alec."

"He tried," Max confirmed softly, dismissing his concerns. "We're all right. It was just a close call, that's all."

"Too close," Joshua said fiercely. "Little Fella almost died. Like Brax and Mole."

Max curled up against Joshua's side, not only to comfort him but in hopes of being comforted. Tears welled up and she closed her eyes as he hugged her to him.

"Everything okay, Little Fella," Joshua rumbled against her dark hair. "White can't hurt them any more."

**Sector Nine, Safehouse Five, One Hour Later**

"I never thought Brax'd be the one."

Alec was lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling. Beside him, Jess was sitting against the wall, weaving her long hair into a loose braid as she listened.

"He was the one who had it all under control," Alec continued after a moment's reflection. "He always knew what the score was, kept everyone else from doing something stupid. He just seemed… I don't know…"

"Untouchable," Jess finished for him and Alec nodded, his green-gold eyes missing their usual spark.

"Yeah. I guess that's it." He exhaled in a rush and grimaced. "Back at Manticore, he was about the closest thing we had a boy scout. He never put a foot wrong."

The comparison made Jess smile briefly.

"When you guys were reassigned to Quantico and it was just me and Jace, we figured we'd get hazed or somethin' once we were transferred into our new unit. We spent about the first week lookin' over our shoulders, waiting for them to pull one over on the new guys. We didn't realize at the time that Brax had warned 'em off."

Jess remained silent, watching the play of emotion over his expressive face.

"We were lucky we didn't end up in Cain's unit like Max did," Alec continued. "Brax just laid it out for us and let us get on with the job."

"Nothing like Lane, huh?" she asked, only half-teasing.

"No," Alec agreed soberly. "Nothing like Lane." He swallowed hard and just stared at the ceiling. "He didn't deserve this. Neither of them did."

"No-one does, baby brother," Jess agreed. She turned thoughtful, pursing her lips. "No-one ever does."

"Jessie, what am I doing here?" Alec asked suddenly. "Why am I staying here when everyone keeps dying?"

"So, what are you saying? You want to leave?" Jess queried him, leaning forward to look him in the eyes.

"I don't know, Jessie," he confessed. "I don't know what I'm thinkin' right now." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "What's keeping me here, anyway?"

"Me, for a start," Jess replied, as if that should have been obvious. "Joshua and your friends." She regarded him shrewdly for a moment. "Max."

"Don't talk about Max, please," Alec entreated wearily, his entire demeanour becoming defensive.

"Subject avoidance doesn't work with me, Alec," she reminded him. "Spill it. What happened?"

"Nothing," Alec said, knowing she wouldn't budge. "Absolutely nothing." There was a bitter edge to his voice that set off alarm bells in Jess's head. "We almost suffocated because we wasted all our oxygen talking about how she loves both of us but still wants Logan."

Jess carefully schooled her expression, unwilling to let Alec know how badly she wanted to shake some sense into the brunette they were discussing.

"I don't think she really knows what she wants, Al," Jess cautioned him.

"Funny, I thought she made herself pretty clear," Alec replied mockingly.

"Hey, easy on the sarcasm," she chided him though there was no real anger in her tone. "You wouldn't want me to change my mind, would you?"

"Change your mind?" Alec asked suspiciously. "About what, exactly?"

"Think of it as a litmus test," Jess explained. "For Max."

"And we're testing for…?"

"I think you know."

"No. No way, Jessie. You're _not_ messing with Max."

"Who said anything about messing with her?" Jess almost sounded offended by the suggestion. "I'm saying we should _help_ her."

"_Jessie!_"

_Ooooh, he's got it bad_, Jess thought privately, noting how quickly Alec's hackles had risen. "Will you relax? I was just thinking it was about time someone put the smackdown on that virus she's always complaining about."

"Wait a minute. What?" Alec looked a bit bewildered. "You want me to find a cure for the virus?"

"Now you're getting it," Jess said mischievously.

Under any other circumstances, Alec would have been relieved to see the honest return of Jess's playful ways but he was still trying to get his head around what she was proposing.

"Jess, has Kestrel got you on sedatives again?" he asked, frowning up at her.

"Hey! Come on, think about it. Give her what she says she wants," Jess urged him carefully. "_Then_ let her choose." Her blue-green eyes, full of determination, met his hazel ones as the light went on in his head.

Alec teetered on the brink, knowing they could pull it off but unwilling to chance that Max would walk away from him a third time and never look back. Seeing his indecision, Jess gave him one final nudge.

"What if she changed her mind later and came back to you? Wouldn't you wonder if it was because she won't kill you by touching you?"

Alec grimaced, the truth of it hitting far too close to home for his taste. She knew telling him what he wanted to hear wouldn't help him. Instead she hit him over the head with the truth and gave him a choice - not unlike what she was proposing for Max.

"Max worked on that virus for months," Alec felt obliged to point out. "The closest she ever got was a ten-hour window before the virus mutated."

"Max doesn't have your IQ of 195," Jess stated patiently. "Besides, I've got some extra time on my hands. I'll help out, okay?"

For a long moment, Alec thought it over. He was staking a lot on the combined brain-power of himself and Jess… which was far more brain-power than that possessed by the scientist who'd created the virus in the first place. His smirk made an appearance and Jess knew she'd won the argument.

"Then if you still want to leave, I'll go with you," Jess told him. Alec looked up at her, a mixture of gratitude and surprise in his green-gold eyes.

"You'd do that?"

Jess grinned and quirked an eyebrow at him.

"You think I came here for the scenery?"

**One more chapter…**


	35. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **I know it's short, but it's intended to be. Think of it as a teaser…

**Chapter 35: Epilogue**

**Undisclosed Location**

Mole could barely lift his head.

It hurt too much to move. It even hurt to breathe and the metallic taste of blood was his only constant companion in this dungeon they were keeping him in. It had been hours since they'd taken Brax again, since they'd carved a chunk of skin out of his neck and just let it bleed, taking the barcode like some kind of sick trophy.

When they finally dragged Brax back to the cell, his only assurance that the X5 was still breathing was the knowledge that dead bodies didn't need to be locked up.

"Mole?" Brax croaked, his voice as broken as his body.

"Over here, kid," Mole replied wearily from where he was sitting in a neighbouring cell. "I'm not dead yet."

Brax swallowed hard, already knowing what he'd see if he looked over at his transhuman companion. Thankfully, their kind healed fast. Typical Manticorean clotting abilities had prevented Mole from bleeding out from his other numerous injuries but Brax had no idea how much more punishment either of them could take.

"They cut you up?" Mole asked gruffly.

"Barcode," Brax rasped, all his energy focused on breathing.

Mole winced as he heard the soft, gurgling wheeze emanating from Brax's chest as he inhaled and exhaled. His suspicions were confirmed when Brax started coughing and spat out a mouthful of blood onto the floor.

"Take it easy, son."

Despite his exhaustion and pain, Brax stiffened. He knew that voice. With an effort, he rolled onto his side and looked up, his gaze following the sound back to its source.

The man in the other cell was dramatically thinner than Brax remembered. His greying blonde hair was longer and as filthy as the rest of him but Brax recognized the eyes instantly. A pale, steely blue, they were sunken but had lost none of their intensity.

Brax let out a near-hysterical laugh. It was that or cry.

Colonel Donald Lydecker.

Why, when he thought life couldn't possibly get any worse, did the universe have to prove him wrong? What a fucking cosmic joke…

A low growl erupted from Mole's throat as his eyes lighted on the man who'd caused so much pain over so many years.

"Nobody here is in any position to be picky about their allies," Lydecker said calmly. "Though I'll admit to being disappointed that one of my kids got himself captured."

"Says the man in the next cell," Mole drawled sarcastically. "Just shut up or die. Preferably both."

**Meanwhile…**

"It's an honour, Brother Sorensen," White said, his entire demeanour respectful but the priest gestured for him to be silent.

"I'm not here for flattery, Brother White," he said simply. "I'm here because you failed."

"I beg to differ."

"I'm sure you do. However, your inability to remove 452 has become a serious concern."

"I'm handling the problem," White insisted, his tone stone cold with suppressed anger. "I'll find the remaining transgenics."

"You're referring to your captives," Sorensen surmised. "The X5 and the… the mutant." His lip curled in distaste.

"We've begun interrogating them."

"Show me."

Mole's yellow eyes flashed angrily as Sorensen approached and the priest stared at the transhuman with blatant disgust.

"What can you possibly hope to learn from this creature?"

"It appears to be intelligent," White replied, though his tone implied serious doubts on that score as Sorensen turned his attention to the X5 in the neighbouring cell.

The priest studied the haggard face of his captive for a long moment, then looked over at White with menace in his eyes.

"Break him."

**THE END**

**For now, at least.**

**You didn't really think I'd leave Max and Alec hanging, did you?**

**Next up is a short fic – "The Gift" – which bridges the gap between Damage and the third instalment of BIS. Not to mention the fic I'm working on for burningnostalgia!**

**See you soon!**


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